UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT    LOS  ANGELES 


-■  ■'t.J 


■^AJV(, 


Ali?/ 


ENVIRONS   OF   MEXICO. 


OLD  MEXICO 

AND    HER    LOST    PROVINCES 

/v/r 

A  JOURNEY  IN 

'  MEXICO,  SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA,  AND  ARIZONA 
BY  WAY  OF  CUBA 

Bv  WILLIAM   HENRY   BISHOP 

AUTHOR   OF  ^_-     ' 

"detmold"  "the  house  of  a  merchant  prince"  "the  goldex  justice"    , 
'•choy  susan  asd  other  sioeies"  etc. 

WITH    ILLUSTRATIONS 

NEW  AND  ENLARGED  EDITJOS 


NEW    YORK 
HARPER   &   BROTHERS,  FRANK  LIN   SQUARE 

1887 


\^  \A- 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1883,  by 

HARPER   &  BROTHERS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


Copyright,  1887,  by  Harper  &  Brothers. 
All  rights  reserved. 


r 
\^\  5 


PREFACE. 


In  my  opinions  about  Mexico  I  am  glad  to  have  been 
sanguine,  because  it  is  now  seen  that  there  was  excellent 
ground  for  it.  But  I  am  glad  also  to  have  been  a  little 
sceptical,  for  the  results  have  by  no  means  equalled  the 
highest  expectations  of  the  time  of  "the  railway  inva- 
sion." I  have  summed  up  now  all  the  important  changes 
since  my  early  visit,  and,  as  in  most  other  human  affairs, 
it  is  found  that  the  realization  is  in  a  happy  medium  be- 
tween the  views  of  the  extremely  hopeful  and  of  those 
who  look  always  only  upon  the  darkest  side  of  any 
project. 

I  am  not  able,  like  several  contemporaries,  in  whose  ac- 
curacy, after  all,  the  cynical  pick  flaws,  to  offer  elaborate 
thanks  to  various  notables  and  dignitaries  "  for  valuable 
assistance  in  the  preparation  of  this  work,"  either  the 
new  edition,  or  the  book  as  a  whole.  I  wish,  as  a  matter 
of  interest,  I  could  take  the  public  into  my  confidence  as 
to  the  number  of  letters  written  to,  or  interviews  held 
with,  minister  resident,  consul,  and  other  persons,  and  the 
curious  apathy  with  which  these  have  often  been  met.  I 
beg  it  to  be  believed  that  if  there  still  be  serious  errors  or 
omissions,  they  are  not  for  want  of  continued  and  pains- 
taking effort,  which  the  modest  result  might  not  seem 
to  have  demanded.  I  may  say  that  the  book  has  been 
brought  out  also  in  England,  and  it  has  up  to  this  time 


vi  PREFACE. 

met  with  considerable  favor.  It  has  had  the  good-fortune 
to  receive  the  commendation  of  leading  journals  in  the 
city  of  Mexico — the  more  satisfactory  in  the  place  itself, 
where  the  most  rigid  tests  of  criticism  are  naturally  to  be 
looked  for.  Just  as  this  goes  to  press  I  receive  a  letter 
from  the  editor  of  a  prominent  English  paper  there,  con- 
taining these  gratifying  lines,  which — though  far  too  com- 
plimentary— I  venture  to  quote :  "  I  do  not  like  to  flat- 
ter," he  says,  "  but  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  that 
yours  is  the  best  book  on  Mexico  in  recent  times." 

Washington  Heights,  June,  ISS?. 


CONTENTS. 


Part  I.— OLD  MEXICO. 

PAGE 

I.  By  Way  of  Cuba  and  the  Spanish  Main 1 

II.  Vera  Cruz 16 

III.  Up  the  Long  Mountain  Slope 24 

IV.  The  Capital "...  37 

V.  Tlie  Projectors 54 

VI.  Hie  Ferro-carriles 70 

VII.  Tlie  Raihoays  at  Work 80 

VIII.  The  Question  of  Money,  and  Shopping 96 

IX.  Social  Idfe,  and  some  Notable  Institutions lOY 

X.  Tlie  Fine  Arts  and  Literature 120 

XI.  Some  Traits  of  Peculiar  History,  and  the  Mexican  "IFarwici"  134 

XII.  Cuatitlan,  and  Arou7id  Lakes  Xochimilco  and  Chalco      .     .     .149 

XIII.  To   Old  Texcoco 162 

XIV.  Popocatepetl  Ascended 175 

XV.  A  Banquet,  and  a  Tragedy,  at  Cuautla-Morelos 185 

XVI.  San  Juan,  Orizaba,  aiul  Cordoba  Revisited 192 

XVII.  Puebla,  Cholula,  Tlaxcala 210 

XVIII.  Mines  and  Mining  Traits,  at  Pachuca  and  Regla 227 

{    XIX.\d  Week  at  a  Mexican  Country-house 245 

AX.  On  Horseback  and  Muleback  to  Afiapulco 263 

XXI.  Conversations  by  the  Way  with  a  Colonel 275 


viii  CONTENTS. 

Part  II.— THE  LOST  PROVINCES. 

PAOK 

XXII.    San  Francisco 295 

XXIII.   San  Francisco  (Continued) 324 

XXrV.    The  Villas  of  the  Bonanza  Kings 343 

^    XXV.    The  Vintage  Season,  and  Monterey 359 

XXVI.   A  Wondrotui  Valley,  and  a  Desert  thai  Blossoms  like  the  Rose  380 
XXVII.    Visalia,  Bakersfidd,  and  Life  on  a  Spacious  Ranch     .     .     .  399 

XXVIII.    Los  Angeles 421 

XXIX.    To  San  Diego,  and  the  Mexican  Frontier 448 

XXX.    Across  Arizona 469 

XXXI.    Tomhstom 482 

XXXII.    Camp  Lowell,  Tucson,  and  San  Xavier  del  Bac 496 

XXXIII.  3fexico  Revisited 610 


ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAOK 

MEXICO,  SHOWING  PRESENT  AND  OLD  FRONTIER 5 

CATHEDRAL   OF  MEXICO 9 

DOMES  OF  VERA  ORTIZ 17 

MAP  OF  ENGLISH  RAILROAD  FROM  VERA  CRUZ   TO  MEXICO       .      .  25 

TRANSCONTINENTAL  PROFILE   OF  MEXICO 31 

A  RAILWAY  JUDAS.      . 33 

A  FLOWER-SHOW   IN   THE   ZOCALO 43 

COMPARATIVE   LEVELS  OF  LAKES 46 

THE  HOMES  OF  THE  POOR 49 

ENTRANCE  TO  A  TENE5IENT-H0USE 51 

OLD   SPANISH  PALACE    IN   THE   CALLE    DE   JESUS 56 

SEMI-VILLA  ON  THE  PASEO  OF  BXJCARELLI 57 

THE  MODERN   STYLE 58 

PORCELAIN  HOUSE  IN  SAN  FRANCISCO   STREET 59 

THE  DRIVE  TO  CHAPULTEPEC 63 

GENERAL  RAILWAY  SYSTEM  OF  MEXICO 75 

THE  GREAT  SPANISH  DRAINAGE  CUT 85 

PAY  CARAVAN   ON  THE  MEXICAN  NATIONAL  ROAD  ......  91 

"not   HERE   FOR  THEIR  HEALTH" 93 

MODERN   SHOP-FRONTS  AT   MEXICO 99 

THE  "PORTALES"  AT  MEXICO. 102 

A  "MERCERIA"  AT  PUEBLA 106 

INTERIOR  COURT- YARD  OF  MEXICiVN  RESIDENCE Ill 

MEXICAN  COURTSHIP 113 

LAS  CASAS  PROTECTING  THE  AZTECS.      By  Felix  Parra 120 

THE   DEATH    OF   ATALA.      By  Louis  Momoy 133 

1* 


X  ILL  USTRA  TIOXS. 

PAGE 

GENEKAL  PORFIRIO  DIAZ,  EX-PRESIDENT  OP  MEXICO 139 

GENERAL   MANUEL   GONZALES,  PRESIDENT   OF   MEXICO       ....  143 

ENTTRONS  OF  MEXICO 150 

SUNDAY  DnrERSIONS  AT  SANTA  ANITA 158 

CREW  OP  "LA  NINFA  ENCANTADOHA" 165 

THE    "find" 169 

in  tierra  caliente 186 

the  hill  op  el  borrego,  at  orizaba 196 

prisont:rs  weaving  sashes  at  cholula 217 

old  pont  at  tlaxcala 223 

the  first  christian  pulpit  in  america.     tlaxcala      .     .     .  223 

part  op  content  op  san  francisco.    tlaxcala 224 

superintendent's  house  AT  REGLA 241 

PLOUGHIVLAN  IN  GRASS  CLOAK 243 

THE  HACIENDA  OF  TEPENACASCO 246 

THE   THRESHING-FLOOR 249 

THE  TLACHIQUERO 251 

NTJRSE  AND  CHILDREN  AT   THE  HACIENDA 261 

THE  "diligencla" 267 

OUR  cavalcade  at  iguala 281 

the  bells  op  san  blas 290 

alcatraz  island 297 

"nob"  hill,  from  the  bay 299 

CALIFORNTA  street,  SAN  FRANCISCO 305 

LONT;  MOUNTAIN 309 

"HIGH  JTNKS"   OF  THE  BOHEMIAN  CLUB  AMONG  THE   BIG  TREES  313 

GOLDEN   GATE,  FROM  GOAT   ISLAND 317 

HIGH-GRADE  RESIDENCES 327 

CHINESE  FISHING-BOATS  IN  THE  BAY 331 

CHINESE   QUARTER,  SAN   FRANCISCO 335 

A  BALCONY  IN  THE   CHINESE  QUARTER 337 

IN  A  CHINESE   THEATRE 339 

RAILWAY  ROUTE  :    SOUTHERN  CALIFORNIA  AND  ARIZONA      .      .      .  345 

PALO  ALTO 354 

RALSTON 'S  COUNTRY  HOUSE 357 

BOTTLING  CHAMPAGNE   AT   SAN  FRANCISCO 361 

A  BRANDY   CELLAR,  SAN   JOSE 363 


ILL  USTRA  TIONS.  X 1 

PAGE 

A  BIT  OP  OLD  MONTEREY 365 

LOOKOUT   STATION 367 

CUTTING   UP  THE   WHALE 369 

THE  HOTEL  DEL  MONTE,  MONTEREY 371 

CLIFFS  AND  FOREST   AT  MONTEREY 373 

CHINESE  FISHING  VILLAGE 375 

SAN  CARLOS'S-DAY  AT  THE   OLD  MISSION 376 

DRYING  FISH  AT  CHINESE  VILLAGE 377 

COURT-HOUSE  AT  FRESNO 387 

PRrV'ATE  RESIDENCE  AT  FRESNO .  393 

FIRST  BUILDING  IN  VISALIA 400 

AN  OLD-TIMER 401 

LOGGING,  BACK  OP  VISALIA 403 

CHINATOWN,  BAKERSFIELD 409 

GYPSY  CAilP  AT  BAKERSFIELD 411 

A  TYPICAL   RANCH-HOUSE 414 

SAN  LUIS  OBISPO 416 

A  RODEO 418 

THE  KERN  RIVER  CANON 419 

TEHACHAPI  PASS 423 

MAIN   STREET,  LOS  ANGELES 425 

DON  PIO  PICO 428 

MONGOLIAN  AND  MEXICAN 430 

PARADISE 437 

A  MEXICAN  WEDDING  AT  SAN  GABRIEL 441 

THE  MINTAGE,  SAN   GABRIEL 443 

IRRIGATING  AN  ORANGE-ORCHARD 445 

A   SYLVAN   GLIMPSE  AT  RIVERSIDE 449 

ADOBE   RESIDENCE   AT   RIVERSIDE 451 

ADOBE   RESIDENCE  AT  RIVERSIDE 453 

OLD  MISSION  AT  SANTA  BARBARA 455 

PLAZA  OP  SAN  DIEGO,  OLD  TOWN 457 

OLD  anSSION  AT  SAN  DIEGO 460 

don  juan  forster 461 

senora  forster 462 

forster's  ranch 463 

san  luis  rey 465 


xii  ILL  USTRA  TIONS. 

PAGK 

A«TICirBORNE  CLAIMANT 466 

the  colorado  uiveh  at  yuma 473 

pasqual,  ciuef  op  the  yumas 476 

ytima  indians  at  home 477 

distant  view  op  tombstone 484 

"ed"  sciiieffelin 487 

a  tombstone  sheriff  and  constituents 494 

apache  prisoners  at  camp  lowell 497 

an  arizona  watering-place 499 

cactus  growths  of  the  desert 501 

street  view  in  tucson 503 

exterior  of  mission  church  of  san  xavier  del  bac   .     .     .  505 
interior  op  church  of  san  xavier  del  bac 507 


PART   I. 

OLD   MEXICO. 


OLD    MEXICO. 


I. 

£Y  WAY  OF  CUBA  AND  THE  SPANISH  MAIN. 


Boom  !  Two  rnddy  old  castles  doinineering  a  narrow 
liarbor  entrance ;  on  the  other  side  a  city,  gray,  warm- 
colored,  and  time-stained,  and  the  bells  of  the  Church  of 
the  Angels  chiming  for  very  early  morning  service !  It 
was  Havana! 

I  began  this  journey  to  Old  Mexico  and  her  Lost 
Provinces  by  sailing  away  from  the  foot  of  Wall  Street, 
East  River,  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  1881.  Some 
would  have  begun  it,  no  doubt,  by  taking  the  railroad 
to  our  Southern  confines,  and  sailing  by  the  steamers, 
of  medium  size,  which  ply  from  New  Orleans,  Galveston, 
and  Morgan  City — all  places  feeling  very  much  the  new 
stimulus  lately  given  to  Mexican  trade.  Others — and 
very  likely  they  could  not  do  better — would  have  taken 
direct  the  excellent  Alexandre  Line,  which  carries  the 
mail  from  New  York,  calling  at  Havana,  Progreso,  Cam- 
peachy,  Frontera,  and  Vera  Cruz, 

Others,  perchance,  more  adventurous,  and  fond  of  mix- 
ing as  much  hardship  as  possible  in  their  pleasure,  might 
have  crossed  the  frontier  at  Texas,  and,  the  new  railroads 

1 


2  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

being  yet  ui)finished,  been  bumped  and  thumped  a  thou- 
sand miles  to  the  capital  in  the  wretched  dlUgencias 
(stage-coaches)  of  the  country. 

I  did  none  of  these.  I  shall  not  be  guilty  of  the  ego- 
tism of  insisting  that  I  did  any  better;  but  I  had  formed 
a  little  plan  of  infusing  variety  into  the  trip  without 
making  it  too  onerous.  I  stood  boldly  upon  the  deck  of 
the  luxurious  steamer  Newport,  bound  for  Cuba  only. 
From  there  I  was  to  take  the  French  packet  making 
regular  trips  from  the  ports  of  St.  Nazaire  and  Santan- 
der  to  Yera  Cruz,  and  bringing  much  of  the  French  and 
Spanish  migration ;  or  a  British  steamer  from  South- 
ampton, or  a  Spanish  one  from  Cadiz,  might  be  taken  in 
the  same  way.  The  fare  by  any  and  all  of  the  direct 
sea  routes  is  about  the  same,  and  may  be  set  down 
roughly  at  $85.00.  The  time  consumed,  where  all  con- 
nections are  expeditiously  made,  should  be  about  eleven 
days. 

11. 

There  was  no  uncontrollable  excitement  on  that  raw 
31st  of  March  when  we  took  our  departure.  People  in 
the  great  financial  mart,  hurrying  about  their  stocks  and 
bonds,  even  blockaded  us  in  an  unthinking  way  as  we 
came  down  to  the  steamer.  It  might  have  been  simply 
a  case  of  going  to  Europe,  or  anything  else  quite  usual 
and  of  little  import.  It  was,  instead,  a  case  of  going  to 
a  land  remote  far  beyond  its  distance  in  miles;  shrouded 
in  an  atmosphere  of  mystery  and  danger;  little  travelled 
or  sought  for;  the  very  antipodes  of  our  own,  though 
adjoining  it ;  venerable  with  age,  though  a  part  of  a 
new  world ;  and  said  to  have  been  suddenly  awakened 
from  slumber  by  the  first  touches  of  a  phenomenal  new 
development. 


BY  WAY  OF  CUBA  AND   THE  SPAiVISH  MAIN.  3 

There  are  those  of  us  whose  conception  of  Mexico  lias 
been  composed  principally  of  the  cuts  in  our  early  school 
geography,  and  the  brief  telegrams  in  the  morning  papers 
announcing  new  revolutions.  We  rest  satisfied  with  this 
kind  of  concept  about  many  another  part  of  the  globe  as 
well  till  the  necessity  arrives  for  going  there  or  other- 
wise clearing  it  up.  I  saw,  I  think,  a  snow  volcano,  and 
a  string  of  donkeys,  conducted  by  a  broad-brim  hatted 
peasant  across  a  cactus -covered  plain.  I  heard  dimly 
isolated  pistol-shots  lired  by  brigands,  and  high-sounding 
pronunciamientos  a,nd  cvnol  fusillades  accompanying  the 
overthrow  from  the  Presidency  of  General  this  by  Gen- 
eral that,  who  would  be  served  in  the  same  way  by  Gen- 
eral somebody  else  to-morrow.  To  this  should  be  added 
some  reminiscence  of  actions  in  the  Mexican  War,  and 
notably  the  portraits  of  General  Scott  and  bluff  old 
Zachary  Taylor. 

To  this,  again,  I  would  add  fancies  of  buried  cities  in 
Central  America,  and  of  Aztec  antiquity,  and  the  valor 
and  astuteness  of  Hernando  Cortez  and  his  cavaliers,  re- 
maining from  Prescott's  history  of  the  Conquest.  One 
of  the  most  captivating  of  volumes,  this  had  seenied  al- 
most mythical  in  its  remoteness ;  and  as  to  the  idea  of 
actually  verifying  its  scenes  in  person,  it  was  beyond  the 
wildest  imagination. 

But  now  all  at  once  this  uncertain  territory  had  be- 
come real.  The  railroad  had  penetrated  it,  and  made  it 
accessible  to  the  average  private  citizen.  Not  that  it 
could  yet  be  reached  by  railway,  for  the  first  international 
line  is  still  incomplete,  though  its  termination  is  near 
at  hand ;  but  a  multitude  of  lines,  undertaken  by  Amer- 
ican capital  and  enterprise,  and  aided  by  a  Government 
of  liberal  ideas,  were  traced  over  every  part  of  the  land, 


4  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

and  some  of  tlieiu  in  ])rogress.  The  locomotive  screamed 
along-side  the  troops  of  laden  donkej'S  and  in  sight  of 
the  snow  volcanoes.  Even  the  brigands  were  said  to 
have  been  dislodged  from  their  fastnesses,  the  revolutions 
had  ceased,  and  a  reign  of  peace  and  security  begun. 

Momentous  rumors  from  these  new  enterprises  were 
frequent  in  the  newspapers,  and  predictions  indulged  in 
of  the  great  increase  of  trade  and  population  to  result 
to  Mexico  by  them.  General  Grant,  to  whose  personal 
influence  much  of  the  turning  of  public  attention  in  this 
unwonted  direction,  after  his  first  visit,  should  certainly 
be  ascribed,  had  taken  the  presidency  of  one  of  them. 
Their  stocks  and  bonds  were  being  prepared  in  bank- 
parlors,  but  as  yet  there  was  no  "  boom,"  little  that  was 
overt. 

III. 

I  did  not  quite  know,  when  standing  on  the  deck  of  the 
departing  steamer,  that  I  was  to  return  to  this  dense  New 
York,  with  its  tall  towers  and  mansards  and  fairy-like 
bridge,  from  the  other  side  of  the  world.  This  journey 
lengthened  out  into  a  long,  desultory  ramble,  beginning 
with  Cuba,  and,  after  Mexico,  concluding  with  the  most 
remote,  novel,  and  characteristic  of  our  own  possessions 
on  the  Pacific  slope.  There  is  unity  of  subject,  and  even 
a  certain  pathos,  in  the  recollection  that  this  latter  was 
once  Mexican  territory  also.  Its  most  obvious  basis  of 
life  is  still  Spanish,  and  it  ma}'  be  sentimentally  consid- 
ered a  kind  of  Alsace-Lorraine — a  part  of  the  sister  re- 
public when  it  was  well-nigh  as  large  and  powerful  as 
ourselves. 

It  was  naturally  cold  on  the  31st  day  of  March,  and 
l)lustering  weather  followed  us  down  the  coast  as  far 
as  it  dared.     Then   I  awoke  one  morning  early,  at  the 


BY  WAY  OF  CUBA  AND    THE  SPANISH  MAIN.  5 

warm  gleam  of  summer  in  the  yellow  lattices  of  my  cabin 
window,  and,  looking  out,  saw  that  we  were  voyaging,  on 
an  even  keel,  on  the  ])lacid  blue  sea  of  the  tropics.     Fra- 


grant odors  were  wafted  over  to  us  from  Florida,  though 
we  did  not  see  the  land.  The  Pan  of  Matanzas  came  in 
sight,  and  we  studied  the  long,  bold  outline  of  the  island 
of  Cuba.  It  was  the  Spanish  Main.  It  was  the  perfec- 
tion of  weather  for  piracy.     If  the  "  long,  low,  suspicious- 


6  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

lookiiifv  craft,  with  raking  masts,"  which  nsed  to  steal  out 
from  sheltered  covers  to  plunder  rich  galleons,  had  many 
such  days  for  their  occupation,  it  was,  so  far  at  least,  an 
enviable  one. 

AVe  had  on  board  a  Cuban  who  had  married  a  Connect- 
icut wife,  and  lived  so  long  in  a  Connecticut  village  that 
he  had  a  kind  of  Connecticut  accent  himself,  and  he  was 
taking  his  wife  to  see  his  family,  where,  no  doubt,  much 
astonisliment  awaited  her. 

The  captain,  a  merry  and  entertaining  soul,  had  prom- 
ised us,  for  our  last  day's  dinner,  a  baked  ice-cream.  He 
endeavored  to  get  up  bets  on  the  improbability  of  his 
being  able  to  accomplish  it ;  but  there,  sure  enough,  it 
was,  and  doubters  were  put  to  scorn.  There  was  a  form 
of  ice-cream,  frozen  hard  and  firm,  and  a  crust  over  it, 
brown  and  smoking — a  dish,  as  it  were,  typical  of  our 
situation,  as  a  hardy  N^orthern  element  in  the  embrace  of 
the  tropics.  Not  to  continue  the  mystery  of  it,  and  as  an 
earnest  that  there  shall  be  no  "tales  of  a  traveller"  in 
this  record  which  are  not  strictly  true,  let  it  be  explained 
that  the  ice  had  been  covered  with  a  light  froth  of  white 
of  eg^g,  which  was  rapidly  browned  and  scorched  at  the 
cook's  galley  before  the  interior  had  time  to  be  dissolved. 

IV. 

And  so,  as  I  say,  two  ruddy  stone  castles,  full  of  green 
old  bronze  guns  (we  found  that  out  afterward),  looking 
down  upon  a  narrow  harbor-entrance;  and  it  was  Ha- 
vana ! 

It  was  the  morning  of  the  5th  of  April  on  which  we 
entered  it.  We  steamed  up  the  strait  to  where  it  widens 
out  into  a  basin,  made  fast  to  a  buoy,  and  had  our  first 
glimpse  of    cocoa-palms,  growing,  unfortunately,  around 


BY  WAV  OF  CUBA   AND   THE  SPAXISII  MAIX.  7 

a  cluster  of  coaling-sheds.  Some  harbor  boats  took  us 
ashore.  We  landed  at  broad  stone  steps  pervaded  b}' 
smells,  passed  into  the  Custom-house  (which  had  been 
an  old  convent),  and  out  of  it  into  paved  lanes  full  of 
donkej's,  negroes,  soldiers,  sellers  of  fruits  and  lottery- 
tickets,  engaged  in  transactions  in  a  debased  fractional 
currency.  The  money  of  the  debt-ridden  island  is  that 
of  our  "  shin-plaster"  war  period,  of  unhappy  memory.  A 
couple  of  boiled  eggs  in  a  common  restaurant  cost  forty 
cents ;  a  ride  in  a  horse-car,  thirty-five.  The  wages  of  a 
minor  clerk  at  the  same  time  were  but  $30  or  $40  a 
month.  How  does  he  make  ends  meet  and  provide  for 
his  future?  lie  buys  regularly  a  certain  amount  of 
hope  in  the  Government  lottery.  "  A  demoralizing  sys- 
tem indeed !"  I  said,  as  I  frowned  over  the  wares  of  a 
dealer  who  had  lost  a  \eg  in  the  insurrection.  I  think 
it  was  No.  11,014  I  bought,  however,  in  a  grand  extra 
drawing,  the  first  prize  of  which  was  to  be  a  million,  in 
paper.  I  trust  the  gentle  reader  will  feel  that  I  repented 
when  I  heard  the  result,  some  months  after,  in  Mexico, 
and  that  I  sliould  have  tried  just  as  hard  to  repent  had 
I  won. 

The  Havanese  were  exercised  just  then  over  the  dis- 
covery of  great  frauds  in  their  Marine  Department. 
Forty  million  dollars  had  been  stolen,  by  collusion  be- 
tween contractors  and  the  commissariat,  since  the  out- 
break of  the  rebellion  in  1S6S.  The  Morro  Castle  was 
full  of  prisoners  of  distinction — officers,  marquises,  and 
counts,  of  the  sugar  aristocracy  of  the  island,  and  Old 
Spain — awaiting  their  trial  by  court-martial.  The  prin- 
cipal operator,  one  Antonio  Gassol,  had  already  been 
sentenced  to  two  years'  confinement  and  the  restitution 
of  a  million  of  his  ill-gotten  gains. 

The  talk  of  not  a  few  intelligent  persons  was,  that  the 


8  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  rJiOVINCES. 

ten  years'  insurrection  had  been  pui'poselj  kept  alive  by 
rings  of  contractors  for  purposes  of  spoliation,  and  by 
ambition  for  military  advancement.  Dulce,  they  said — 
going  throngh  the  list  of  Captains-General — had  married 
a  Cuban  wife,  and  was  secretly  a  traitor ;  De  Kodas,  when 
asked  for  re-enforcements  at  a  certain  place,  withdrew  a 
portion  of  the  troops  already  there ;  Pieltan  was  occu- 
pied in  intriguing  for  the  republican  cause  in  Spain, 
and  the  easj^-going  Concha  for  the  cause  of  King  Alfonso. 
Finally,  Martinez  Campos  and  Jovellar  were  sent  out, 
and,  yielding  to  the  demand  of  the  universal  M'eariness, 
by  a  little  display  of  vigor,  the  one  in  the  cabinet,  the 
other  in  the  field,  made  an  end  of  the  languishing 
struggle. 

This  may  have  been,  however,  merely  the  story  of  the 
discontented,  which  should  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  salt. 
It  is  true,  on  the  one  hand,  that  the  area  of  the  island  is 
not  great,  and  the  despatch  of  forces  from  Spain  easy;  the 
insurgents  never  held  a  town,  and  received  no  aid  worth 
mentioning  from  without.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
were  no  railroads  of  consequence,  the  ordinary  roads  w^ere 
wretched,  and  there  was  the  wild  manigua,  as  it  is  called, 
lialf  forest,  half  swamp,  with  which  a  good  part  of  the 
island  has  abounded  from  the  date  of  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus down.  It  was  in  the  manigua  that  the  insur- 
gents found  refuge  from  pursuit. 


V. 

It  so  happened  that  the  Yille  de  Brest  was  delayed  in 
her  coming,  and  I  had  six  or  seven  days  of  leisure  in 
the  island.  I  employed  part  of  it  in  a  run  down  to  Ma- 
tanzas,  the  second  city.  I  saw  on  the  way  the  manigua, 
which    is   sentimentally   prettj",  from    a    distance,  with 


'  T|i|'i'|i  ,'    "I'll 


ii|i|i  I 


flife'f>-<ra 


BY    WAY  OF  CUBA    AXD   THE  SPANISH  MAIN.         U 

masses  of  laurel,  cypress,  and  graceful  palms ;  but  within 
it  is  a  thicket  of  intertwisted  cactus,  thorns,  and  creep- 
ers, through  which  a  way  must  be  opened  with  the  mo/- 
chete^  a  formidable  half  knife,  half  cleavei',  carried  by  the 
peasants  for  general  uses  on  the  plantations,  and  which 
served  also  as  their  weapon  in  the  strife. 

There  was  an  International  Exhibition  in  progress  at 
Matanzas,  easily  rivalled  by  almost  any  American  county 
fair.  The  railway  ride  of  three  hours  and  a  half  by  a 
ram-shackle  train,  run  by  a  Chinese  engineer,  was  hot  and 
dusty,  but  how  well  repaid  by  the  first  deep  draughts  of 
satisfaction  in  understanding  at  last  the  heart  of  a  trop- 
ical country !  There  was  the  thatched  cabin,  shaded  by 
the  broad-leafed  banana.  It  was  like  "  Paul  and  Vir- 
ginia." Where  was  the  faithful  negro  Domingo?  The 
hedges  were  of  cactus  and  dwarf  pine-apple.  There  were 
groves  of  cocoa-nuts  like  apple-orchards  with  us,  and  un- 
known fruits  too  numerous  to  mention.  It  was  as  if  each 
peasant  proprietor  had  cultivated  a  gigantic  conserva- 
tory, and  were  indulging  himself  in  the  luxuries  of  life 
in  consideration  of  foregoing  its  necessities. 

Matanzas  was  dull,  even  with  its  Exposition,  a  pretty 
plaza,  and  the  memory  of  a  locally  immortal  poet.  Mi- 
lanes,  of  whom  a  tablet  in  a  wall  testified  that  he  was 
born  and  died  in  a  certain  house.  I  looked  into  his 
works  at  a  book-stall.  He  wrote  on  "Tears,"  "  The  Sea," 
"Spring  and  Love,"  "The  Fall  of  the  Leaves,"  "To 
Lola,"  and  "A  Coquette."  "Your  mother  little  thought, 
when  she  held  you  an  infant  in  her  arms,"  he  says,  in 
substance,  to  the  coquette,  "of  what  wiles  and  perfidies 
you  would  be  capable.  Your  beauteous  aspect  will  in 
time  fade  away,  and  what  remorseful  memories  will 
you  not  then  have  to  look  back  upon !" 

With  this  dip  into  the  poetic  inspii'ation  of  the  heart 


12  OLD   MEXICO  AND   TIER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  the  island  of  Cuba  let  me  take  the  train  back  to 
town,  having  made  a  beginning  of  the  discovery  that  a 
glib  rhyming  talent — and  facility  in  speech-making  as 
well — is  common  among  the  Spanish-Americans. 

I  visited  a  sugar  plantation,  where  the  negro  slaves, 
swarming  out  of  a  great  stone  barracks — the  men  in  rag- 
ged coffee-sacks,  the  women  in  bright  calicoes — were  as 
wild  and  uncouth  as  if  just  from  tiie  Congo.  Next  I 
went  to  the  bathing  suburb  of  Chorrera,  where  there  is 
a  battered  old  fort  tliat  has  done  service  against  the  pi- 
rates, and  where  the  American  game  of  base -ball  has 
been  acclimated. 

VI. 

Havana  was  gay  with  parks,  opera-houses,  clubs,  and  mil- 
itary music.  Awnings  were  stretched  completely  across 
the  two  narrow  streets  of  principal  shops.  Bright 
tinting  of  the  modern  walls  contrasted  with  a  gray  old 
rococo  architecture.  An  interior  court  of  my  hotel  was 
colored  of  so  pure  an  azure  that  it  was  puzzling  at  the 
first  glance  to  say  where  the  sky  began  and  the  w^all 
ended.  The  more  important  mansions  were  of  a  size 
and  stateliness  within  which  is  probably  nowhere  sur- 
passed, but  neither  in  them  nor  the  shabby  little  attempt 
at  a  gallery  were  there  any  pictures  worthy  of  the  name. 

"You  will  find  all  that — the  treasures  of  art — in  Mex- 
ico," the  Havanese  say.  "  Yes  indeed !  that  is  the  place 
for  them." 

They  speak  with  great  respect  of  Mexico,  with  which, 
perhaps,  they  have  no  very  intimate  personal  acquaint- 
ance. Up  to  the  independence  of  the  latter,  in  1821,  it 
was  the  richest  and  greatest  of  all  the  Spanish  posses- 
sions ;  and  Cuba,  made  more  important  in  its  turn  by  this 
independence,  was  but  a  stopping-place  on  the  way  to  it. 


BY  WAY  OF  CUBA   AND    THE  SPANISH  MAIN.         13 

It  is  worth  while  to  have  seen  Havana  and  Cnba  as  a 
preliminary  to  Mexico.  The  Spanish  tradition  pervading 
both  is  the  same,  with  local  modifications.  It  was  here, 
too,  that  Hernando  Cortez  prepared  his  immortal  expe- 
dition of  discovery  and  conquest.  Since  I  am  preparing 
my  own,  to  follow  over  exactly  the  same  course,  why 
should  I  repine  that  the  Ville  de  Brest  is  a  day  or  two 
longer  in  coming? 

He  was  a  wild  young  fellow  in  the  island  in  early 
days,  this  Cortez,  his  chroniclers  say,  and  gave  little 
promise  of  the  gi-eat  qualities  he  developed  in  the  enter- 
prise which  steadied  him.  The  shilly-shally  Yelasquez 
would  have  stopped  the  sailing  of  his  expedition  and 
thrown  him  into  prison,  but  he  dropped  down  the  harbor 
before  his  preparations  were  half  completed  and  finished 
them  elsewhere.  He  put  to  sea  at  last,  with  five  hundred 
and  fifty  men,  in  nine  small  vessels,  to  undertake  the  con- 
quest of  an  empire  teeming  with  millions.  The  largest 
of  his  vessels  was  of  a  hundred  tons,  and  some  were  mere 
open  boats.  In  these  he  conveyed,  too,  sixteen  horses, 
which  cost  him,  it  is  said  of  them,  "inexpressibly  dear," 

We  make  a  boast  of  our  hardihood  sometimes,  yet 
grumble  at  sea-sickness,  delays,  the  ordinary  mischances 
of  the  traveller.  But  think  of  it!  To  set  out  in  such  a 
fashion,  without  steam,  without  charts,  subject  to  every 
bodily  ill  for  which  modern  science  has  found  a  remedy, 
and  carrying  your  horses,  worth  well-nigh  their  weight  in 
gold,  to  proceed  against  an  unknown  empire!  Why,  we 
do  not  know  the  first  principles  of  boldness! 

VII. 

At  last,  on  the  11th  of  April,  the  Ville  de  Brest  came 
in,  and  went  out  again   on  the  same  day.     She  was  a 


li  OLD  MEXICO    AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

Stead j-goiiig,  hourgeoisAooking  craft,  as  compared  with 
the  elegant  American  steamer,  and  showed  traces  of  hard 
knocks  in  her  long,  plodding  journey  of  twenty  days  to 
this  point.  She  treated  us  well  enougli,  however,  and 
presented  the  noveltj'  of  surroundings  for  which  I  liad 
come  aboard.  There  was  a  little,  gold-laced  captain,  and 
the  crew  wore  white  canvas  hats  and  suits  of  two  shades 
of  blue  cotton,  as  if  equipped  for  some  charming  nautical 
opera.  I  believe  I  was  tlie  only  English-speaking  passen- 
ger; and  as  it  has  never  been  known  to  occur  to  a  for- 
eigner to  practise  his  English,  it  was  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity for  practising  the  languages  likely  to  be  needed 
in  the  new  country. 

There  was  a  young  Frenchman  who  had  been  back  to 
his  own  countiy  to  marry  a  wife,  and  brought  her  with 
him.  There  was  a  French  engineer  coming  to  report 
for  principals  in  Paris  on  Mexican  mines;  an  agent  of 
a  scheme  for  the  establishment  of  a  national  bank.  A 
young  Italian  of  Novara,  who  had  "Student"  printed  on 
his  visiting-card,  had  secured  an  engagement  as  clerk  in 
the  capital  for  three  years.  An  elderly  Spaniard  was 
coming  over  to  look  into  the  subject  of  forgotten  heri- 
tages ;  another  had  obtained  a  position  in  the  mines  at 
Guanajuato.  There  were  commercial  men,  and  a  well- 
to-do  Mexican  family,  returning  from  their  travels,  with 
a  son  who  had  studied  law  at  a  Spanish  university. 

It  has  been  proposed  to  call  this  body  of  water — made 
up  of  the  Caribbean  Sea  and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — the 
Columbian  Sea,  in  compliment  to  sadly-neglected  Colum- 
bus ;  and  it  seems  a  good  idea,  but  it  will  hardly  now  be 
carried  out.  My  predecessors  have  seen  many  an  inter- 
esting sight  on  this  tropical  old  Spanish  Main,  the  source, 
too,  of  that  greatest  of  natural  mysteries,  the  Gulf  Stream. 
Ihit  these  must  have  been  in  times  long  gone  by.     In  the 


BY  WAY  OF  CUBA   AND   THE  SPANISH  MAIN.         15 

day  of  steam,  with  the  swift  prow  always  in  motion,  the 
ocean  is  vacant.  There  is  no  catching  of  sharks  and  dol- 
phins, hardly  even  a  covey  of  flying-fish.  Those  things 
were  for  the  long,  lazy  periods  of  calm,  when  the  deni- 
zens of  the  deep  gathered  curiously  around  the  craft  half 
quiescent  among  tliem. 

One  of  my  predecessors  in  1839 — Madame  Calderon 
de  la  Barca,  whose  book  on  Mexico  remains  full  of  inter- 
est still — was  twenty-five  days  making  the  voyage  from 
Havana  to  Vera  Cruz.  She  saw,  too,  as  she  approached, 
the  snow-clad  peaks  of  Orizaba  and  the  Cofre  of  Perote, 
tliirty  leagues  inland.  We  saw  nothing  of  these.  The 
sky  was  of  an  opaque  gray  above  low  sand-hills,  on  which 
a  white  surf  was  tumbling.  We  made  our  transit  in 
three  days,  including  some  stoppage  by  a  "norther." 
The  norther  is  of  peculiar  moment  to  the  Mexican  har- 
bors of  the  eastern  coast ;  they  are  little  more  than  open 
roadsteads,  and  when  it  blows  they  cannot  be  entered. 


10  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVIXCES. 


II. 

VERA   CRUZ. 


The  sea  of  the  subsiding  "norther"  was  still  running 
heavily  toward  Vera  Cruz,  as  if  it  would  overwhelm  it. 
It  was  a  little  Venice  that  we  saw  when  we  came  to  it. 
A  half-mile  or  so  of  buildings,  compact  and  solid,  with 
blackened  old  rococo  domes  and  steeples;  yellow  for  the 
most  part,  scarlet,  pink,  green,  and  blue,  in  patches;  a 
stone  landing-quay,  and  a  long,  light  iron  pier  projecting 
from  it.  At  the  end  of  the  pier  from  a  crane  hung  an 
iron  hook,  and  to  tliis  the  imagination  instantly  hooked 
on.  It  was  the  termination  of  the  English  railway  to 
the  capital.  By  that  road,  with  all  possible  expedition, 
we  should  be  borne  up  out  of  the  miasmatic  lands  of 
the  coast  —  the  over-luxuriant  Tierra  Caliente — -to  the 
wonders  of  the  interior. 

To  the  left  a  reddish  castellated  fort.  No  suburbs — not 
a  sign  of  them — only  long,  dreary  stretches  of  sand.  Very 
far  down  on  the  sand,  with  the  sea  breaking  white  over 
her,  was  the  English  steamer  Chrymlite^  dragged  from 
her  moorings  by  the  gale  and  wrecked.  We  came  in  at 
evening,  and  joined  ourselves  to  a  little  cluster  of  steam- 
ers and  sailing-vessels  made  fast  to  buoys  under  the  lee 
of  a  coral  reef,  on  which  stands  the  disreputable  old  cas- 
tle of  San  Juan  d'Ulloa,  It  is  whitewashed  in  part,  and 
partly  as  blackened  by  time  and  powder  as  the  reef  itself. 


VERA    CRUZ. 


17 


q 


18  OLD  MEXICO  AND    HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

A  revolving  lantern  moved  round  on  its  summit.  It  was 
told  to  the  confiding  that  the  Government  kepc  prisoners 
there  to  turn  it;  and  they  were  instructed  to  look  for 
their  dark,  flitting  forms  and  hear  their  lugubrious  cries. 
We  heard  all  night,  at  any  rate,  the  creaking  of  the  pumps 
of  an  American  bark  along-side,  which  had  come  disabled 
into  port,  with  a  freight  of  logs  from  Alvarado,  and  could 
barely  keep  afloat. 

It  so  happened  that  it  was  the  anniversary  of  the  arri- 
val of  Cortez,  in  the  year  1519.  lie  liad  arrived  on  the 
evening  of  Thursday  of  Holy  Week,  and  so  had  I.  It 
was  on  the  morning  of  Good  Friday  that  I  went  ashore. 
We  were  taken  off  in  small  boats,  and  our  ship  unloaded 
by  lighters,  for  there  is  not  one  of  these  Mexican  harbors 
where  a  ship  can  lie  up  to  a  wharf  in  safety. 

More  than  the  usual  embarrassments  await  the  ordi- 
nary traveller  on  tlie  quay  at  Yera  Cruz,  by  so  much  as 
he  is  apt  to  know  less  of  Spanish  than  of  French  —  in 
which  most  of  the  dearly-bought  early  foreign  experience 
is  acquired — and  nobody  will  tell  him  the  truth.  Let  it 
be  fixed  in'  mind  that  but  one  train  a  day  starts  for  the 
capital,  and  this  at  eleven  at  night.  The  designing  by- 
standers make  you  take  your  baggage  to  a  hotel,  pretend- 
ing that  no  other  course  is  possible.  Take  it,  instead,  to 
the  depot  at  once  and  get  rid  of  it,  and  then  see  the  town. 

For  the  town  is  hy  all  means  to  be  seen.  One  had 
not  expected  much  of  a  place  tlie  reputed  home  of  pesti- 
lence, and  I  shall  not  advise  a  lengthened  stay  ;  but,  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  picturesque,  it  has  some  pleasant 
surprises. 

Founded  by  the  Count  de  Monterey  in  the  early  part 
of  the  seventeenth  century — for  it  is  not  quite  the  site 
of  the  original  Vera  Cruz  of  Cortez,  which  was  above — 
it  has  now  attained  a  population  of  about  seventeen  thou- 


VFBA    CRUZ.  19 

sand.  The  principal  sliops  had  a  large,  well-furnished 
aspect,  especially  those  in  groceries  and  heavy  hardware. 
The  Custom-house  square  was  piled  to  repletion  with 
bales  of  cotton,  railroad  iron,  and  miscellaneous  goods 
awaiting  transit. 

1  walked,  the  very  first  thing,  into  a  large,  cool  public 
librar}'^,  wliich  had  once  been  a  convent.  It  was  not  much 
of  a  public  library,  the  books  being  few,  and  to  a  certain 
extent  bound  in  vellum,  as  if  they  too  had  belonged  to 
the  convent;  but  it  was  public,  and  what  one  did  not 
expect. 

The  churches  were  of  a  well-proportioned,  solid,  gran- 
diose, rococo  architecture,  and  had  charming  bells.  The 
principal  one,  in  a  little  shaded  plaza,  had  its  dome  en- 
crusted with  colored  china  tiles,  which  shone  in  the  sun 
— a  feature  waiting  in  plenty  farther  on.  They  wei-e 
draped  in  black,  and  crowded  with  worshippers  to-day, 
and  abounded  in  strange  figures  of  bleeding  Christs,  with 
other  evidences  of  a  florid  form  of  devotion. 

Grass  grew  in  joints  of  the  pavement  in  the  minor 
streets,  as  I  had  seen  it,  for  instance,  in  some  such  place 
as  Mantua.  Long  water-spouts  project  from  the  tops  of 
the  fiat-roofed  white  and  yellow  houses,  and  npon  these 
sit  the  solemn  zopilotes.  All  the  woi'ld  knows  that  the 
street-cleaning  of  Vera  Cruz  is  conducted  l)y  the  ravens, 
or  buzzards;  but  all  the  %vorld  does  not  know  with  what 
a  dignity  these  large  zopilotes,  of  a  glossy  blackness,  often 
pose  themselves  immovably  on  the  eaves  against  the  deep 
blue  sky.  They  might  be  carved  there  for  ornament. 
Many  a  street-cleaning  department  is  at  least  less  sculpt- 
uresque, and  perhaps  less  efficient. 

The  principal  thoroughfare,  called  of  the  Indepen- 
dence, leads  to  a  short,  concrete-covered  promenade,  bor- 
dered with  benches  and  a  double  row  of  cocoanut-palms, 


20  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  I'ROVIXCES. 

and  tliis  to  tliG  open  conntry.  It  is  an  early  discovery 
that  the  Mexican  is  patriotic.  He  is  fond  ot"  naming  his 
streets  and  squares  after  his  mih'tary  achievements,  and 
particuhirly  the  Cinco  de  Mayo  (tlie  Fifth  of  May).  "We 
sliall  hear  plenty  more  of  it,  this  Cinco  de  Mayo.  It  was 
won  at  Puebla  over  the  French,  in  18G2.  He  attaches 
also  to  cities  the  names  of  his  lieroes.  Thus  Vera  Cruz 
itself  is  Yera  Cruz  of  Llave,  a  general  and  governor; 
Oaxaca,  Oaxaca  of  Juarez,  the  sagacious  President ;  and 
Puebla,  Puebla  of  Zaragoza,  its  commandant  on  the 
5th  of  May  above-named. 

There  were  notices  of  a  bull-fight  posted  on  the  dead 
walls.  Nearly  all  typical  notes  are  struck  at  once — plaza, 
Renaissance  churciies,  patriotism,  bull-fight,  and  tropical 
vegetation.  I  took  a  tram-car  of  a  peculiar,  wide,  open 
pattern  (made,  however,  in  New  York)  out  to  the  open 
fields,  and  saw  a  dancing-place,  a  ball-ground,  and  the 
dark,  heavily  walled-in  cemetery. 

The  road  to  this  latter  should  not  be  grass-grown,  if 
half  the  tales  of  dread  told  abroad  be  true.  And  yet 
there  are  apologists  even  for  the  yellow-fever,  or  rather 
those  who  say  that  its  ravages  are  greatly  magnified. 

I  fell  in  with  the  Yankee  captain  of  the  disabled  bark 
which  had  lain  by  us  during  the  night.  He  was  sitting 
on  a  low  stone  post  at  a  street  corner,  and  was  lialf  dis- 
consolate, half  desperate,  by  turns.  He  could  find  no  dry- 
dock  in  which  to  lie  up  for  i-epairs ;  and  he  could  get  no 
steam-pnmp,  by  the  aid  of  which  he  might  have  kept  on 
his  way.  He  was  condemned  to  see  his  venture  sold  for 
a  song,  for  want  of  means  to  save  it. 

If  little,  as  I  say,  was  expected  from  the  land  at  this 
place,  a  good  deal,  on  the  other  hand,  was  expected  from 
the  water,  at  an  ancient  port,  the  New  York  of  Mexico, 
receiving  nine-tenths  of  the  commerce  of  a  nation  of  ten 


VERA    CRUZ.  21 

million  people.  But  not  a  year  passes  without  a  num- 
ber of  disasters,  which  has  led  the  underwriters  to  make 
their  risks  to  Vera  Cruz  about  five  times  higher  than  to 
most  other  ports.  The  aggregate  of  these  losses  for  a 
brief  time  would  pay  the  cost  of  works  needed  to  make 
the  inhospitable  roadstead  a  harbor. 

A  few  rudimentary  preparations  are  absolutely  neces- 
sary before  Mexico  can  enter  upon  the  expected  period 
of  prosperity,  and  the  creation  of  harbors  in  some  degree 
commensurate  with  the  new  transportation  facilities  is 
one  of  them.  A  breakwater  plan  will,  no  doubt,  have  to 
be  adopted  like  that  so  much  in  use  on  our  great  lakes 
and  tlie  Channel  ports  of  Europe.  It  was  of  interest  to 
hear,  during  my  stay  in  the  country,  that  this  need  had 
impressed  itself  upon  the  authorities  at  Vera  Cruz  and 
Tampico,  and  that  they  had  taken  the  step  of  counsel- 
ling on  what  was  best  to  be  done  with  the  American 
engineer,  Captain  Eads,  who  was  engaged  in  his  unique 
scheme  of  a  ship  railway  across  the  Isthmus  of  Te- 
huantepec. 

II- 

I  had  the  pleasure  of  spending  the  evening,  pending 
the  departure  of  the  train,  in  a  large,  cool,  roomy  house, 
with  the  American  consul.  He  had  been  a  resident  for 
twelve  years,  and  had  brought  up  a  family  of  daughters 
here.  It  did  not  seem,  at  first  sight,  an  attractive  place 
in  which  to  bring  up  a  family ;  but  they  saw  a  good  deal 
of  company  from  the  ships  in  port,  took  an  occasional 
run  to  the  capital,  or  a  vacation  at  Jalapa  or  Cordova, 
above  the  danger-line,  and  seemed  well  content. 

The  consul  was  himself  a  physician,  and  had  much  to 
say  on  the  subject  of  the  yellow-fever.  He  insisted  that  it 
w^as  epidemic,  but  !iut  c.oiitngiuus.     The  local  authorities 


22  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

put  afflicted  patients  in  their  liospitals  along-side  others 
suffering  from  ordinary  sickness,  and  these  latter  do  not 
take  it. 

"  Great  damage,"  he  said,  "  is  done  to  the  commercial 
interests  of  both  countries  bj  the  annoying  restrictions 
of  quarantine  arising  from  this  cause.  There  is  no  more 
need  of  quarantine  against  yellow-fever  than  against  com- 
mon fever  and  ague,  since  it  cannot  be  transmitted." 

He  quoted  eminent  medical  authority  at  New  Orleans 
as  sharing  his  views.  From  which  it  would  seem  that  the 
subject  is  worth  careful  looking  into  from  official  sources, 
in  order  that,  if  there  be  a  mere  popular  delusion,  it  may 
be  dispelled.  As  I  write  the  Mexican  Government  has 
just  granted  authority  to  the  steamer  line  which  carries 
the  mail  into  New  Orleans  to  reduce  the  number  of  its 
trips  to  one  each  month  during  the  quarantine,  increase 
its  freight  and  passenger  rates  fifty  per  cent.,  and,  if  the 
traffic  does  not  pay  even  under  the  increase,  to  abandon 
it  entirely. 

The  consul,  in  conclusion,  had  known  but  one  country- 
n)an  of  ours  to  die  of  it  during  his  stay,  and  only  a  few 
to  be  attacked.  I  may  say,  however,  that  the  consul  suc- 
ceeding this  one — who  has  since  gone  away — arrived  fresh 
from  Minnesota,  and  died  at  his  post  within  a  week. 

Another  interesting  subject  of  talk  with  the  consul 
was  the  tariff  laws  and  the  usages  of  the  port  of  entry, 
naturally  of  leading  importance  here.  The  tariff  system, 
based  on  an  original  law  of  1872,  has  been  greatly  tam- 
pered with  since,  and  is  in  a  confused  state;  so  that,  with 
the  best  intentions,  importers  are  apt  to  be  visited  with 
double  duties,  fines,  detentions  of  goods,  and  law -suits. 
There  are  some  three  hundred  and  seventy-eight  articles 
in  the  specified  list.  New  articles  are  charged  for  after 
the  manner  of  those  which  they  resemble.     Thus,  when 


vi:ea  ciiuz.  23 

the  article  of  celluloid  was  first  introdnced  there  was 
doubt  whether  it  ought  to  be  taxed  twenty-nine  cents  a 
kilogram  as  bone,  or  $2.20  a  kilogram  as  ivory,  and  the 
decision  was  finally  in  favor  of  the  latter.  " 

The  mercluint  must  use  the  names  employed  in  the 
country.  Thus,  our  "muslin"  should  be  merely  "'shirt- 
ing" or  "calico;"  while  what  is  understood  here  by  mus- 
lin is  really  lawn,  taxed  twice  as  much.  The  least  varia- 
tion in  a  label  or  form  of  package  is  visited  with  penal- 
ties. Storage  in  the  warehouses,  too,  is  estimated,  not  by 
the  space  occupied,  but  by  the  package,  which  is  a  hard- 
ship, A  case  is  told  of  where  ordinary  argente  hooks- 
and-eyes,  which  should  pay  nineteen  cents  a  kilogi'am, 
were  charged  for  as  "plated  silver,"  which  pays  $1.15, 
and  then  a  double  duty  imposed  for  "false  declaration," 
making  tlie  total  $2.30  a  kilogram.  As  a  rule,  a  "  vent- 
ure" is  not  a  success.  The  laws,  framed  with  excessive 
severity  against  contrabandists,  whom  they  often  fail  to 
reach,  afflict  well-meaning  pei'sons.  Tiiey  make  the  con- 
signee of  goods  subject  to  all  the  penalties ;  and  n)any 
of  these  latter  are  afraid  to  touch,  without  the  most  am- 
ple guarantees,  consignments  of  goods  which  they  have 
not  specifically  ordered.  The  Germans  succeed  best  in 
this  traffic,  through  their  painstaking  attention  to  the 
local  requirements. 

"I  will  tell  you  a  story,"  said  the  consul,  "of  an  un- 
lucky fellow  who  came  here  from  England  with  a  small 
venture  of  fancy  goods,  part  free  of  duty.  The  whole 
cost  him  originally  $1200 ;  and  he  liad  consulted  the 
Mexican  consul  at  Liverpool,  and  thought  he  knew  what 
he  was  about.  When  he  got  through  the  Custom-house 
his  total  charges  and  fines  had  amounted  to  $2850.  He 
sold  his  stock  for  $2000,  and  borrowed  money  to  pay  the 
difference  and  get  out  of  the  country." 


24  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVIXCES. 


III. 

UP  THE  LONG  MOUNTAIN  SLOPE. 


There  is  but  one  train  a  day,  each  way,  on  the  English 
railway,  and  the  journey  occupies  twenty  hours.  The 
road  is  a  great  piece  of  engineering,  and  has  been  de- 
scribed more  than  anything  else  in  Mexico.  Photographs 
— almost  the  only  good  ones  to  be  had  in  the  country — 
are  plentiful,  displaying  its  notable  points.  It  climbs 
seven  thousand  six  hundred  feet  to  the  table-land  in  a 
distance  of  about  two  hundred  miles,  the  whole  way  to 
the  capital  being  about  two  hundred  and  sixty.  It  has 
the  transporting  of  the  greater  amount  of  construction 
material  brought  into  the  country  for  the  new  roads,  and 
lias  lately  been  quite  profitable.  A  first-class  fare  is  $16 ; 
a  second-class,  $12.50 ;  and  baggage  is  charged  for,  as  on 
the  Continent  of  Europe. 

Behold  us  at  last  at  the  station,  at  eleven  o'clock  at 
night,  ready  to  climb  to  the  capital — but  how  unlike  our 
great  predecessor,  Cortez — by  railway.  Xo,  indeed;  poor 
hero !  he  had  to  linger  at  the  coast  for  months  before 
beginning  his  long  and  painful  march,  with  a  battle  at 
every  step.  Nor  was  it  by  the  same  route.  He  went  in 
by  Tlaxcala,  Cholula,  Puebla,  and  so  over  between  the 
great  snow- peaks  of  Popocatepetl  and  Ixtacihuatl  (the 
White  Woman),  down  to  the  gleaming  lakes  and  palaces 


UP  THE  LONG  MOUNTAIN  SLOPE. 


25 


va-i-N30   [jj    -xaw 


26  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVIXCES. 

of  ancient  Tenoclititlan.  In  this  course  lie  was  followed 
by  General  Scott  in  his  turn.  The  old  diligence  road — 
of  their  adventures  on  which  nij  predecessors  have  writ- 
ten so  much — continued  practically  the  same  route,  going 
first  by  National  Bridge  and  beautiful  Jalapa. 

I  say  beautiful  Jalapa  —  although  I  have  not  been 
there  myself  —  because  all  testimonies  point  with  such 
a  unanimity  to  the  charms  of  soil  and  climate,  and  the 
beauty  of  the  feminine  type,  in  what  is  considered  a  pe- 
culiarly favored  spot,  that  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt 
about  it. 

There  were  no  sleeping-cars;  but  the  carriages,  divided 
into  compartments  for  eight,  and  comfortably  padded  (on 
the  European  plan),  filled  their  place  very  well.  The 
passengers  in  the  third-class  cars  had  already  begun  the 
night  with  a  boisterous  singing  and  playing  of  harmoni- 
cas. To-morrow  was  the  Sabado  de  Gloria  (or  Holy  Sat- 
urday), an  occasion  of  merry-making,  and  they  w^ere  tak- 
ing an  earnest  of  it.  A  car  containing  half  a  company  of 
dusky  Indian  soldiers,  who  act  as  an  escort,  was  coupled 
on  to  the  train. 

The  associates  in  the  compartment  in  which  I  estab- 
lished mj^self  were  the  French  engineer  sent  out  to  re- 
port for  principals  in  Paris  on  Mexican  mines,  and  the 
young  Frenchman  bringing  back  a  bride  from  his  own 
country.  All  at  once  there  entered  it  so  lawless  and 
bizarre-looking  a  figure  that  the  French  engineer  sent 
out  to  report  on  mines  to  his  principals  in  Paris  thought 
it  prudent  to  descend  hastily  and  seek  quarters  elsewhere. 
The  rest  of  us,  though  remaining,  were,  perhaps,  in  no 
small  trepidation.  It  was  the  first  view  at  close  quarters 
of  a  dashing  type  of  Mexican  costunie  and  aspect  which 
is  peculiarly  national. 

Our  new  friend  was  dressed  in  a  short  black  jacket, 


UP   THE  LONG  MOUNTAIN  SLOPE.  27 

under  which  showed  a  navy  revolver,  in  a  sash;  tii^lit 
pantaloons,  adorned  up  and  down  with  rows  of  silver 
coins;  a  great  felt  sombrero,  bordered  and  encircled  with 
silver  braid ;  and  a  red  handkerchief  knotted  aronnd  his 
neck.  A  person  in  such  a  hat  seemed  capable  of  any- 
thing. And  I  had  forgotten  to  mention  silver  spnrs, 
weighing  a  pound  or  two  each,  upon  boots  with  exag- 
gerated high  and  narrow  heels.  This  last,  bj-the-wav, 
is  a  peculiarity  of  all  boots  and  shoes  in  the  market, 
which  aim  thus,  it  would  seem,  to  continue  the  old  Cas- 
tilian  tradition  of  a  high  instep. 

AVould  it  be  his  plan  to  overawe  us  with  his  huge 
revolver,  alone  ? 

Or  would  he,  at  a  preconcerted  signal,  be  joined  by 
confederates  from  the  third-class  car  or  a  way-station, 
who  would  assist  him  to  slaughter  us  ? 

The  traveller  is  rare  who  arrives  in  Mexico  for  the 
first  time  without  a  head  full  of  stories  of  violence.  The 
numerous  revolutions,  the  confused  intelligence  which 
reaches  us  from  the  country,  give  a  color  to  anything  of 
the  kind  ;  and  the  stories  retain  their  hold  for  a  time 
even  in  the  most  frequented  precincts. 

We  got  under  way.  The  new  arrival,  instead  of  de- 
vouring us,  proved  the  most  amiable  of  persons,  and 
we  were  soon  upon  excellent  terms  with  him.  He  was 
a  wealthy  young  hacendado,  or  planter,  returning  to 
estates  of  his,  on  which  he  said  six  hundred  hands  were 
employed.  He  offered  cigars,  gave  us  details  in  answer 
to  our  eager  curiosity  about  his  novel  dress ;  and  we  had 
shortly  even  tried  on — bride  and  all — the  formidable 
sombrero,  and  learned  that  the  price  of  such  an  one  in 
the  market  is  from  $20  to  $30.  The  silver-bound  som- 
brero, and  ornaments  of  coins,  are  a  favorite  kind  of 
Mexican    extravagance    even    among   the    lower   classes, 


28  ;         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

which  is  perhaps  accounted  for  by  tlie  lack  of  proper 
phiccs  of  deposit  for  savings  in  other  forms. 


II. 

It  was  moonlight.  Sleep  on  such  a  night  was  out  of 
the  question.  Not  a  foot  of  the  scenerj^  ought  to  be  lost. 
But  tlie  padded  coach  was  comfortable;  the  fatigues  of 
the  day  had  been  severe.  The  lively  conversation  became 
fitful,  then  lapsed  into  long  silences.  The  events  of  that 
first  night,  half  dozing,  half  waking,  sometimes  even 
alighting  at  the  little  stations,  seem  wholly  like  a  dream 
— the  waking  part,  if  possible,  stranger  than  the  other. 

Palms  and  bananas  and  dense  coifee  shrubbery,  with 
hamlets  of  thatched  cottages  sleeping  peacefully  among 
them  ;  a  glimpse  of  a  cataract ;  an  Indian  mother  sing- 
ing to  her  baby;  perfumes  coming  in  at  the  window; 
statuesque,  silent  men  in  blankets,  and  Moorish-looking 
women,  offering  fruits;  stations  from  the  outer  doors  of 
which,  when  reached,  no  town  was  visible,  but  only  an 
immense  darkness ;  persons  taking  coffee  in  lighted  in- 
teriors; the  dusky  soldiers  laughing  loud  in  their  com- 
partment; a  few  startling  words  of  English,  sometimes 
with  a  Southern  or  even  Hibernian  accent,  spoken  by 
imported  employes  of  the  line  meeting  to  excliange  a 
comment,  generally  unfavorable,  on  their  situation — 
these  are  the  impressions  that  stamp  themselves  upon 
the  memory. 

As  soon  as  the  first  gray  of  daylight  appears  it  seems 
incumbent  on  us  to  begin  to  admire  the  country.  We 
are  not  far  past  Cordoba,  the  centre  of  its  most  impor- 
tant coffee-growing  interest. 

'■'■Poiif ! "  says  our  friend,  the  hacendado,  with  an  air 
of  disdain. 


1 


UP   THE  LONG  MOUNTAIN  SLOPE.  29 

He  will  not  take  the  trouble  to  look  ont  of  the  win- 
dow. He  expects  things  very  much  better.  We  have, 
in  fact,  passed  remarkable  scenes  in  the  night,  but  the 
best  is  still  before  us,  and  presently  begins. 

At  a  little  station  called  Fortin  we  commence  to  wind 
along  the  side  of  one  of  the  vast  sudden  gorges  which 
impede  travel  in  the  country,  the  hcvrranca  of  Metlac. 
There  are  horseshoe  curves  which  almost  permit  the- 
traditional  feat  in  which  the  brakeman  of  the  rear  car 
is  said  to  light  his  pipe  at  the  locomotive.  We  pass 
tunnels  and  trestle  bridges,  see  our  route  above  and  be- 
low us  on  the  hills  in  such  varied  ways  that  it  is  hardly 
possible  to  understand  that  these  are  not  so  many  dif- 
ferent roads  instead  of  the  satne.  There  is  a  point 
above  Maltrata,  distant  but  two  and  a  half  miles  in  a 
direct  line,  which  must  be  reached  by  twenty  miles  of 
zigzag. 

The  history  of  this  road,  from  the  political  point  of 
view,  presents  hardly  fewer  obstacles  and  vicissitudes 
than  those  opposed  by  nature  to  its  engineers.  It  has 
passed,  in  its  time,  under  the  rule  of  forty  different  pres- 
idencies, and  lost  and  recovered  its  charter  in  the  revolu- 
tions. Though  of  so  moderate  length  it  required  over 
thirty  years  and  $30,000,000  to  build  it. 

The  passengers  ran  out  at  the  small  stations  for  flowers, 
with  which  we  adorned  ourselves.  So,  too,  wreaths  were 
hung  about  the  neck  of  Cortez's  horse  in  his  progress, 
and  a  chaplet  of  roses  upon  his  helmet.  We  gave  the 
new  bride  heliotrope,  roses,  jasmine,  and  the  splendid 
large  scarlet  flower — the  tulipan — which  may  pass  for 
the  type  of  tropical  beauty. 

The  sun  came  up  and  lighted  Orizaba,  rising  17,375 
feet  beside  us  to  the  right,  making  it  first  rosy-red,  then 
golden.     The  peak  is  a  perfect  sugar-loaf  in  form,  with 


30  OLD  MEXICO   AND    HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

nothing  splintered  and  savage  about  it,  as  in  Switzerland, 
It  seems  almost  too  tame  at  first — a  sort  of  drawing-mas- 
ter's mountain — and,  above  the  tropical  landscape,  is  like 
snow  in  sherbet.  The  city  of  Orizaba  is  an  important 
small  place,  the  scene  of  a  dashing  surprise  of  the  Mexi- 
cans by  the  French,  at  the  hill  of  El  Borrego.  It  has 
charming  torrents,  which  furnish  water-power  for  cotton 
and  paper  mills.  One  of  these  torrents,  conveyed  in  an 
arched  aqueduct,  turns  the  machinery  of  the  ingenio,  or 
sugar  plantation,  of  Jalapilla,  once  a  country  residence  of 
Maximilian. 

A  delegation  of  relatives  had  come  down  the  night  be- 
fore to  await  our  young  couj^le  here.  What  embracing 
and  chattering!  A  Mexican  embrace  has  a  character  of 
its  own.  The  parties  fall  upon  each  other's  necks,  as  we 
are  accustomed  to  see  done  on  the  stage.  It  is  given, 
too,  between  mere  acquaintances,  almost  as  commonly  as 
shaking  hands. 

A  vivacious  sister-in-law  aimed  to  give  the  new-comer 
an  idea  of  what  was  before  her  in  her  future  home. 
"  Such  flowers  as  I  have  in  the  court-yard !"  she  said,  rais- 
ing her  eyes,  with  an  expressive  gesture;  "such  oranges, 
camellias,  azaleas !     Ah  yes,  indeed,  I  believe  it  well." 

"  And  Jack  ?"  inquired  the  husband,  addressed  as  Pros- 
per; "  how  always  goes  poor  Jack?" 

"  Ah !  he  is  dead,"  replied  the  vivacious  sister-in-law. 
"  I  regret  to  tell  you,  but  so  it  is." 

It  appeared  that  Jack  was  a  favorite  monkey,  and  for 
a  moment  his  untimely  fate  cast  a  certain  gloom  over  the 
company. 

III. 

From  the  heights  where  we  Avere  little  villages,  with 
squares  of  cultivated  fields  around  them,  were  seen  at  vast 


UP   THE  LONG   MOUNTAIN  SLOPE.  31 

distances  below,  with  the  effect  of  tliose  niiiiiatnre  topo- 
grapliical  preparations  in  relief  displayed  at  international 
exhibitions. 

It  greatly  simplifies  Mexico  to  retneniber  that,  in  pro- 
file, it  is  a  long,  continuous  mountain-slope,  rising  from 
the  Atlantic  to  a  central  table-land,  and  falling,  though 
more  gradually,  on  the  other  side  to  the  Pacific.  Along 
the  ascents,  as  well  as  at  the  top,  are  some  benches,  or 
level  breathing-places.  These  table-lands  are  the  chief 
seats  of  population,  and  they  are  utilized  as  much  as 
possible  for  the  lines  of  the  north  and  south  railways. 


TRANSCONTINENTAL    PROFILE   OF    MEXICO. 


This  steep  formation  accounts  for  absence  of  navigable 
streams  and  for  the  existence  of  climates  verging  from 
tropical  to  temperate,  nearlj'^  side  by  side.  The  sharpness 
of  contrasts  in  climate  is  scarcely  to  be  appreciated  by 
the  hasty  voyager.  The  really  tropical  vegetation  is  suc- 
ceeded by  a  kind  which  to  the  eye  of  the  American  of 
the  North  is  quite  as  exotic.  Banana  and  cocoa-nut  are 
followed  by  a  hardy  kind  of  fan -palm;  by  nopal,  or 
prickly-pear,  as  large  as  the  apple-tree  with  ns ;  by  the 
tall,  sti-aiglit  organ -cactus,  in  use  for  hedges;  and  the 
remarkable  maguey,  or  century-plant. 

What  would  not  some  of  our  American  conservatories 
or  a  certain  well-known  New  York  club  give  for  some 
of  these  splendid  specimens !  The  spiky  maguey,  like  a 
sheaf  of  sword-blades,  grows  eight  and  ten  feet  high.  It 
is  the  typical  production  of  the   central  table-land.     Its 


32  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

sap  furnishes  in  extraordinary  quantities  the  beverage 
Q.2i\\Q&  jyulque — the  wine  of  the  country.  From  it,  in  ad- 
dition, are  made  thatch,  fuel,  rope,  paper,  and  even  stuffs 
for  wearing  apparel. 

Our  third-class  passengers  celebrated  their  Sahado  de 
Gloria  with  great  spirit,  by  shouting,  and  firing  pistols 
and  Chinese  crackers  from  the  car  windows.  Teams  of 
mules,  with  their  load,  whatever  it  might  be,  gayly 
adorned,  showed  that  it  was  being  equally  observed  in 
the  country.  It  is  a  day  devoted  by  custom  to  the  par- 
ticular abasement  of  Judas,  who  is  treated  as  a  kind  of 
Guy  Fawkes  and  dishonored  in  effigy.  Venders  parade 
the  streets  with  grotesque  images  of  him,  and  children 
at  this  time  estimate  their  fortune  in  the  number  of 
Judases  they  possess,  just  as  at  the  season  of  All-Souls 
it  is  in  cakes,  gingerbread,  and  even  more  substantial 
viands,  fashioned  into  death's-heads,  cross-bones,  and 
coffins. 

At  Apizaco,  the  junction  of  a  branch-road  to  Puebla, 
we  met  a  merry  excursion,  decorated  with  rosettes  and 
streamers.  It  had  two  mammoth  Judases,  stuffed  with 
fire-works,  one  on  the  iOC<^motive,  the  other  on  a  baggage- 
car.  The  former  was  blown  up,  as  a  kind  of  compliment 
to  us  by  way  of  exchange  of  ceremonies  with  our  own 
train,  amid  hilarious  uproar. 

We  had  now  entered  upon  the  central  table-land  of 
Mexico.  Long,  dotted,  perspective  lines  of  maize  and 
maguey  stretched  to  distant  volcanic- looking  hills.  A 
few  laborers  in  white  cotton  were  ploughing  with  M'ood- 
en  ploughs,  after  the  pattern  of  the  ancient  Egyptians. 
At  the  stations  squads  of  a  mounted  rural  police,  in  buff 
leather  uniforms  and  crimson  sashes,  which  give  them 
a  certain  resemblance  to  Cromwell's  troopers,  salute  the 
train. 


UF   THE  LONG   MOUNTAIN  SLOPE. 


33 


The  sparse  towns  consist  of  a  nucleus  of  excellently 
built  old  churches  amid  an  environment  of  mud-colored 
habitations.  They  are  in  crying  need  of  whitewash. 
AVill  they  ever  get  it? 

The  face  of  the  country  was  not  the  verdant  paradise 
that  may  have  been  expected,  but  parched  and    brown. 


A    RAILWAY    JDDAS. 


We  had  come  at  the  end  of  the  rainy  season.  Small 
columns  of  dust,  whirling  like  water-spouts,  were  a  con- 
stant feature  of  the  landscape.  A  stage-coach  going 
along  a  distant  road  was  marked  by  its  own  dust,  as  a 
locomotive  by  its  smoke. 

Isolated  houses  there  were  none,  with  the  exception 
of  (at  long  intervals)  some  gloomy,  square,  fort-like  ha- 
cienda, with  straw-stacks  and  flocks  and  herds  near  it. 

2* 


34  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Jndiaii  peasants  offered  for  sale,  all  along  the  way,  cakes 
spiced  with  green  and  red  peppers.  The  village  of 
Apatn  is  the  centre  of  the  Bordelais  of  the  jmlque  in- 
dnstrj'.  The  new-comer  here  usually  makes  his  first  trial 
of  that  beverage,  milk-like  in  aspect,  but  somewhat  viscid 
and  sour  to  the  taste,  with  heady  properties.  It  does  not 
commend  itself  to  favor  on  a  lirst  acquaintance.  Wry 
and  contemptuous  grimaces  are  made  over  it,  but  in  time, 
as  occurred  in  my  own  case,  it  niay  become  very  palata- 
ble, as  it  is  said  to  be  healthful.  It  is  poured  into  little 
earthen  pitchers  from  bags  of  whole  sheep-skins,  with  the 
%vool-side  in,  like  the  wine-skins  of  the  East  and  "Don 
Quixote.'"  These  bags,  resembling  dressed  pigs,  lie  about 
on  the  ground  or  the  freight-car,  with  their  legs  dumbly 
kicking  up  in  the  air,  in  many  a  grotesque  attitude. 

But  one  glimpse  of  real  Aztec  antiquity  along  the  waj-, 
and  that  at  San  Juan  Teotihuacan,  thirty  miles  from  the 
capital.  The  deceptive  shapes  of  the  hills,  wdiich  assume 
symmetrical  forms,  liad  frequently  produced  a  throb  of 
half  self-delusion,  but  here  are  two  genuine  pagan  teo- 
callis,  pyramids  dedicated  to  the  sun  and  moon,  and  a 
great  area  covered  with  broken  fragments  and  vestiges 
of  tombs.  It  is  thought  to  liave  been  old  and  ruined 
even  in  the  time  of  the  Aztecs.  Children  offer  at  the 
train  caritas,  as  they  call  them  ("  little  faces  "),  and  other 
fragments  of  earthen-w^are,  together  with  occasional  pots 
and  idols  of  large  size,  which  they  represent  as  having 
been  dug  up  out  of  the  soil.  They  have  certainly  been 
buried  in  the  soil;  but  later,  finding  that  the  manufact- 
ure of  spurious  antiquities  is  a  thriving  industry,  one 
takes  leave  to  question  for  what  length  of  time. 

And  yet,  what  can  it  matter?  These  ancient-seeming 
jars,  with  their  symbols  and  images  of  the  war-god  and 
what  not  upon  them,  are  at  least  unique  and  historically 


UP   THE  LONG  MOUNTAIN  SLOPE.  35 

correct.     One  does  well  to  bring  home  what  he  can  get, 
for  default  of  better,  and  not  ask  too  many  questions. 

San  Juan  is  a  place  that  one  mentally  makes  a  note 
of  as  to  be  returned  to;  and  I  spent  some  pleasant  days 
there  later,  poking  among  the  potsherds  of  the  past,  and 
picking  up  ordinary  earitas  and  bits  of  tiint  weapons,  for 
myself. 

IV. 

But  no  dallying  now.  The  shades  of  evening  draw 
on.  We  are  weary  and  travel-stained  with  the  twenty 
hours'  journey  and  the  many  excitements  of  the  day;  but 
the  great  moment  is  at  hand.  Gleams  of  distant  water, 
thickets  of  maguey  and  cacti,  with  a  peasant  stealing 
mysteriously  among  them,  behind  a  troop  of  donkeys ! 
The  geograpliy  picture  is  realized  to  the  life.  The  water 
comes  nearer;  we  skirt  its  borders.  Can  it  be  that  these 
lonesome,  shallow  expanses,  without  vestige  of  sail  or 
even  skiff,  their  muddy  shores  white  with  a  deposit  of 
salt  and  alkali — can  it  be  that  these  are  the  great  lakes  of 
Tenochtitlan,  on  which  Cortez  launched  his  brigantines? 
And  the  famous  floating  gardens,  where  are  they?  AIT 
in  good  time!  We  shall  see.  The  sacred  hill  of  the 
Virgin  of  Guadalupe,  with  a  cluster  of  interesting-looking 
churches  upon  it,  is  passed.  Remains  of  ruined  hacien- 
das and  fortifications,  and  dilapidated  adobe  hovels,  ap- 
pear. We  run  out  upon  a  long,  low  causeway,  skirted 
by  the  arches  of  an  aqueduct,  over  marshes.  Other  sim- 
ihir  causeways  are  seen  converging  from  a  distance.  One 
iiad  not  expected  to  find  everything  so  unrelievedly  fiat. 
It  is  like  climbing  tlie  mountain  to  find  the  Louisiana 
lowlands.  A  chain  of  yet  higher  mountains  surrounds 
it,  it  is  true;  the  snowy  summits  of  Popocatepetl  and  its 
mate,  the  White  Woman,  always  shine  upon  it  from  a 


36  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

distance,  but  Mexico  itself  is  a  basin.  It  has  been  under 
water,  and  would  be  yet,  but  for  artificial  works  by 
which  the  lakes  have  been  made  to  recede  and  left 
behind  them  these  alkali-whitened  margins. 

It  is  a  disillusionment  very  like  that  of  approaching 
Venice  at  low  tide. 


THE  CAPITAL.  37 


THE  CAPITAL. 

I. 

There  was  a  cnstom-lionse  at  the  Buena  Vista  station. 
Part  of  its  profits  are  national,  part  municipal.  The  cap- 
ital is  in  a  Federal  District,  ruled  by  a  governor,  not  un- 
like the  District  of  Columbia.  There  is  little  inter-state 
comity  as  yet  among  the  different  parts  of  the  republic. 
Each  state  still  collects  dues  at  its  own  frontiers,  and  the 
towns  take  tolls  (the  alcabalas)  on  merchandise  and  food 
entering  their  gates. 

Mexico  is  not  a  cheap  city  of  abode.  Its  hackney- 
coaches,  as  in  European  countries  as  well,  are  an  excep- 
tion to  the  general  rule ;  but  even  these,  with  the  various 
commissionaires,  who  zealously  aid  yon  in  putting  your 
baggage  upon  them,  after  getting  it  through  the  custom- 
house, are  dear  for  the  first  time.  Travelling  is  like  so 
many  other  things  in  the  world :  yon  pay  a  bonus,  or  in- 
itiation fee,  in  the  beginning,  after  which  the  charges 
are  in  a  declining  series.  The  particular  hackney-coach 
which  conveyed  us,  a  travelling  companion  and  myself, 
may  have  been  a  trifle  dearer  on  account  of  a  driver  who 
aspired  to  a  few  words  of  English.  Not  that  we  greatly 
wanted  it.  The  injury  to  one's  feelings  in  these  cases  of 
the  indifferent  reception  by  the  native  of  your  first  over- 
tures in  his  own  language  (as  if  his  own  language  were 
not  good  enough  for  him,  forsooth),  is  sufficient,  without 


38  OLD  MEXICO  AND   II ER  LOST  PROVLVCES. 

a  pecujiiary  burden  added.  But  he  charged  for  it,  as  I 
say. 

"Well,  good-niglit,"  he  said,  sahiting  ns  as  patrons. 
"  Wass  you  wants?"  And,  after  having  passed  the  long, 
shady  strip  of  pai'k  called  the  Alameda,  he  even  ventured 
upon  a  certain  facetiousness,  as,  "  Wills  you  to  want  a 
wiskey  ?" 

He  had  learned  tin's  proud  acquirement  in  tlie  military 
service  on  the  frontiers  of  Texas. 

A  long,  dark  ride  conveyed  us  to  the  principal  hotel. 
As  it  was  once  the  palace  of  the  Emperor  Itnrbide,  after 
whom  it  is  named,  it  should  have  something  stately  about 
it,  and  so  it  has.  There  is  a  high,  sculptured  door-way,  of 
an  Aztec  touch  in  the  design,  though  not  in  the  details, 
and  long,  grotesque  water-spouts  project  into  the  street. 
Within  is  a  large,  dark,  arcaded  court,  from  which  open 
cafe  and  billiai'd-room,  the  leading  resort  of  the  golden 
3'outh  of  the  town. 

The  office  is  a  dark  little  box  of  a  place,  with  two  seri- 
ous functionaries,  who  seem  to  receive  the  visitor  ordy 
with  suspicion.  The  gorgeous  and  affable  hotel  clerk  of 
northern  latitudes  is  unknown.  In  the  rear  are  more 
courts,  not  arcaded  ;  and  around  all  of  these  the  rooms 
are  ranged  in  several  stories. 

It  is  not  so  late  on  the  evening  of  his  arrival  but  that 
the  traveller  may,  after  dinner,  still  take  a  stroll.  lie 
will  be  apt  to  fancy  at  first,  from  the  quietude,  that  his 
hotel  is  not  on  a  principal  street;  but  it  is  in  the  most 
central  part  of  the  city — on  the  street  which,  with  three 
others  running  parallel  fur  say  half  a  mile,  and  the  in- 
cluded cross-streets,  contain  the  principal  retail  traffic. 

It  is  an  early  discovery  that  Mexico  is  a  grave  and 
not  a  gay  city.  There  are  no  crowds  on  the  sidewalks, 
no  eating  of  ices  in  public,  no  ccifes  chantants^  nothing 


THE  CAPITAL.  39 

Parisian.  Bj  nine  or  ten  o'clock  the  people  seem  to  have 
retired,  perliaps  to  be  np  betimes  in  the  morning  for  the 
work  of  the  day,  A  military  band  plays  three  evenings 
in  the  week,  but  even  these  concerts,  except  on  Sundays, 
are  so  sparsely  attended  that  the  men  seem  discoursing 
the  music  for  their  own  amusement. 

Policemen  are  stationed  at  short  intervals  apart  in  the 
quiet  streets,  with  their  lanterns  set  in  the  middle  of 
the  roadway.  They  are  obliged,  by  regulation,  to  signal 
their  whereabouts  every  cpiarter  of  an  hour.  The  sound 
of  their  whistles,  which  have  a  shrill,  doleful  note,  like 
that  of  a  November  wind,  is  heard  repeated  from  one  to 
another  all  the  night  through. 

II. 

As  Mexico  has  not,  until  lately,  at  any  rate,  expected 
tourists,  there  are  almost  none  of  the  usual  appurtenances 
for  their  pleasure  and  information  to  be  met  with.  While 
this  may  have  its  annoyances,  if  an  ardent  curiosity  be 
baffled  too  long,  on  the  other  hand  freedom  from  the 
sense  of  responsibility  to  exacting  Baedekers  and  Mur- 
rays  has  advantages  of  its  own.  The  visitor  with  an  eyQ 
for  the  picturesque  dips  into  a  delicious  feast  of  novel- 
ties, makes  discoveries  on  every  hand,  and  has  the  pleas- 
ure of  testing  the  value  of  his  own  unaided  conclusions. 
By  daylight,  with  all  its  bright  colors  upon  it,  and  its 
normal  stir  of  life  going  on,  the  famous  capital  is  a  very 
different  place  from  what  it  was  at  night.  By  little  and 
little  misapprehensions  are  shaken  off.  After  tlie  first 
nioments  of  disappointment  we  like  it  always  more  in- 
stead of  less,  and  in  the  end  it  takes  a  powerful  hold. 

Here  at  length  is  the  great  central  plaza,  in  which 
events  of   such  moment  have  been  transacted.     To  actu- 


40  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

ally  sit  down  upon  a  bench  in  the  midst  of  it,  and  gaze 
comfortably  about — can  it  be  possible? 

The  imposing  cathedral  makes  a  new  pyramid  on  the 
spot  where  once  stood  the  pyramid  of  the  Aztec  war-god. 
These  stones  should  be  ankle-deep  with  all  the  blood  of 
various  sorts  that  has  been  spilled  upon  them.  For  a 
moment  one  renews  the  pagan  superstition.  I  would 
gladly  see  set  up  again,  for  a  brief  instant,  old  Hutzilo- 
potchli,  the  war- god,  aloft  on  his  ancient  terrace,  hear 
the  beat  of  the  lugubrious  war-drum,  and  see  the  mourn- 
ful procession  of  captives  winding  up  to  the  sacrifice,  in 
charge  of  the  sinister  priests  with  their  black  locks  flow- 
ing down  upon  their  shoulders. 

But  not  one  instant  too  long.  What !  hideous  priests, 
you  will  indeed  lay  them  down  on  the  sacrificial  stone, 
and  raise  the  knives  of  flint  above  their  bared  breasts  for 
the  monstrous  slaughter?  Not  one  hair  of  their  heads 
shall  be  harmed.  San  Jago  and  Spain  !  When  was  Cas- 
tilian  ever  known  to  turn  his  back  upon  a  foe?  Up  the 
pyramid  we  go,  leaping  from  step  to  step,  though  with 
no  better  weapon  than  a  sun-umbrella  in  hand,  to  their 
deliverance.  Ay,  howl  if  you  will,  baffled  miscreants, 
and  rattle  your  spears  and  arrows  like  hail  upon  us! 
Down  with  your  old  Ilutzilopotchli  till  he  crashes  in 
fragments  below  there.  Your  carven  sacrificial  stone 
shall  be  set  up  in  the  court-yard  of  the  Academy  of 
Fine  Arts  of  San  Carlos  for  this,  and  your  great  calen- 
dar-stone, a  show-piece,  against  the  side  of  the  cathedral. 

It  is  a  good  day's  work.  I  estimate  tliat  there  were  in 
that  train  of  captives  not  less  than  a  hundred  souls! 

But  it  is  hard  to  conjure  up  images  of  desperate  con- 
flicts, though  there  have  been  so  many,  in  this  bright 
sunshine,  with  the  multitude  of  pretty,  novel  sights.  On 
one  side  of  the  square  a  beneficent  institution,  the  Na- 


THE  CAPITAL.  41 

tional  Loan  Establishment,  occiijjies  what  was  once  the 
site  of  the  palace  of  Cortez ;  on  another,  the  long,  white, 
monotonous  National  Palace,  the  site  of  that  of  Monte- 
zuma. In  the  centre  is  a  charming  little  garden,  with 
benches,  the  Zocalo. 

The  cathedral,  like  most  of  the  earlier  architecture,  is 
in  the  Renaissance  style,  far  gone  to  the  vagaries  of  ro- 
coco. It  is  saved  from  finicality,  however,  by  its  great 
size  and  massiveness,  except  in  respect  to  the  termina- 
tions of  its  towers,  which  are  in  the  shape  of  immense 
bells.  Adjoining,  and  forming  a  part  of  it,  is  a  parish 
church,  in  a  rich,  dark-red  volcanic  stone,  with  carving 
that  recalls  the  fantastic  fagades  of  Portuguese  Belem. 
What^a  painting  it  would  make,  on  one  of  the  perfect 
moonlight  nights,  which  bring  out  every  line  of  the 
sculpture  softly,  and  show  the  whole  like  a  lovely  vision  ! 

There  are  little  book-stalls  in  front,  and  gay  booths  de- 
voted to  the  sale  of  refreshing  drinks — aguas  7ievadas — 
from  large,  simple  jars  and  pitchers  of  most  noble  and 
pleasing  shapes.  The  drinks  are  dispensed  by  dusky 
Juanas  and  Josefas  of  Indian  blood,  with  straight  black 
braids  of  hair  down  their  backs.  With  a  characteristic 
taste  the  fronts  of  their  booths  are  often  wholly  studded 
and  banked  up  with  flowers,  and  furnished  with  inscrip- 
tions formed  in  letters  of  carnation  pinks  and  blue  corn- 
flowers. 

Figures  go  by  in  blankets  which  one  hankers  to  take 
from  them  ior portieres  or  rugs.  The  men  of  the  poorer 
sort  wear  or  carry,  universally,  the  scrape — a  blanket  with 
a  slit  in  the  centre  for  the  insertion  of  the  head.  Apart 
from  its  artistic  patterns,  it  is  a  useful  garment  in  many 
emergencies.  It  is  not  the  moot  improbable  thing  in  the 
world  that,  in  the  course  of  the  Mexican  revival,  we  may 
yet  Bee  it  introduced  in  the  States,  and  running  a  course 


42  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  popularity  like  tlie  ulster.  The  corresponding  gar- 
ment of  the  women  is  the  7'ebozo,  a  shawl  or  scarf,  gen- 
erally of  blue  cotton,  which,  crossed  over  the  head  and 
lower  part  of  the  face,  gives  a  Moorish  appearance.  The  j 
background  of  life  here  seems  more  like  opera  than  sober 
existence.  Two  other  sides  of  the  square  are  occupied 
by  long  arcades,  among  the  merchants  of  which,  pro- 
tected from  the  sun  and  rain,  one  may  wander  by  the 
hour,  watching  the  shrewd  devices  of  trade,  and  picking 
up  those  knickknacks,  trifling  in  the  country  of  their 
origin,  which  are  certain  to  be  curiosities  elsewhere. 
From  time  to  time  pass  across  the  view,  dark  and  Egyp- 
tian-like, in  a  peculiar  dress  of  bluish  woollen,  trudging 
under  heavy  burdens,  Indians  who  have  yet  prq^prved 
the  tradition  of  their  race.  Followed  to  their  homes, 
they  are  found  to  dwell,  among  the  ruined  walls  of  the 
outskirts,  in  adobe  huts  which  can  have  changed  little 
since  the  time  of  the  Conquest. 

These  genuine  Aztecs  have  peculiarly  soft,  pleasant 
voices,  in  contrast  with  the  Spatiish  voice,  which  is  apt 
to  be  harsh.  They  are  shiftless  and  squalid,  but  their 
manners  are  above  their  surroundings.  It  is  a  favorite 
way  with  the  Mexican  to  say,  "  This  is  your  house;"  and 
I  have  had  said  to  me  on  being  introduced,  "  Well,  now, 
remember!  number  so-and-so,  such  a  street,  is  your 
house." 

Having  looked  into  one  of  these  Indian  abodes,  and 
asked  an  elderly  woman,  by  way  of  making  talk,  if  it 
were  hers,  she  replied,  "Yes,  Seiior,  and  yours  also." 

Neither  in  the  Zocalo  nor  the  Alameda  (a  park,  which 
holds  somewhat  the  position  of  the  Common,  in  Boston), 
are  there  trees  with  the  hoary  antiquity  one  might  expect 
in  such  time-honored  places.  But  it  appears  that  the  set- 
ting out  of  the  trees,  and  the  formation  of  the  Zocalo 


THE  CAPITAL.  45 

entirely,  is  of  modern  date,  the  work  of  Maximilian,  a 
monarch  who,  in  his  short,  ill-fated  reign,  had  many 
excellent  projects. 

The  Zocalo  is  occasionally  allowed  to  be  enclosed,  and 
an  admission-fee  charged,  for  select  festivities.  The  ora- 
tions were  delivered  there,  for  instance,  on  the  national 
festival  of  the  5th  of  May,  When  I  first  arrived  a  flow- 
er-show was  in  progress.  I  have  never  seen  anything 
more  charming  of  the  sort.  Our  florists  might  get  a 
score  of  new  ideas  for  the  arrangement  of  bouquets. 
Strawberries  were  introduced  into  some  for  effects  of 
color.  Little  streamers  with  gallant  mottoes  floated  from 
others.  There  were  lanterns,  and  birds  in  cages.  A  mil- 
itary band  played,  and  people  promenaded — dandies  with 
silver-braided  hats,  stout  duennas,  and  fathers  of  families, 
and  slender,  lithe  senoritas,  wearing  the  graceful  mantilla 
instead  of  the  Paris  bonnet. 

In  front  of  the  Zocalo  a  permanent  flower  market  is 
held  every  morning,  which  is  almost  as  pleasing. 

Tramway  cars  run  out  of  the  plaza  in  numerous  direc- 
tions. The  city  early  utilized  this  invention,  and  boasts 
of  having  one  of  the  most  complete  systems  existing. 
The  inscriptions  on  them  have  an  attractive  look.  One 
would  like  to  take  all  the  different  routes  at  once.  Pa- 
tience !  it  is  all  accomplished  in  time.  Shall  we  go  to 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  with  its  treasures  and  its  miraculous 
Virgin;  to  Tacubaya  and  San  Angel,  with  their  villas; 
Dolores,  with  its  pensive  cenieterj',  full  of  sculptures ;  La 
Viga,  with  its  picturesque  canal,  giving  access  to  the  cM- 
nmivpas  of  flowers  and  vegetables;  the  gates  of  Belem 
and  Niiio  Perdido,  familiar  in  the  story  of  the  Ameri- 
can conquest;  Chapultepec?  Yes,  that  shall  be  the  very 
first — Chapultepec,  theatre  of  exploits  of  American  valor 
and  of  moving  events  in  every  historic  epoch. 


46  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOUT  PROVINCES. 

Mexico  is  extraordinarily  flat,  and  laid  out  as  regularly 
at  right  angles  as  our  own  symmetrical  towns.  At  the 
ends  of  all  the  streets  the  view  is  closed  by  mountains. 
Its  flatness,  together  with  its  position  in  reference  to  the 
adjoining  lakes,  are  circumstances  which  have  occasioned 
great  solicitude  in  the  past,  and  still  call  for  almost  as 
much,  on  a  different  ground.  Formerly  it  was  danger  of 
inundation ;  now  it  is  defective  drainage.  Bad  odors 
offend  the  nostrils,  and  stagnant  gutters  and  heaps  of 
garbage  the  sight,  of  the  wayfarer  about  the  interesting 
streets. 


EL  or  THE  CITY  OF  M£X1     L 

COMPARATIVE    LEVELS   OF   LAKES. 


The  drainage  problem,  divested  of  the  mystery  with 
which  it  has  been  surrounded  in  learned  treatises,  is 
simply  this.  When  the  vast  slope  from  the  sea  has  been 
surmounted,  and  the  Valley  of  Mexico — as  hi^h  as  the 
Swiss  pass  of  St.  Gothard — is  reached,  it  is  found  to  be 
a  shallow  depression,  containing  six  lakes.  These  are  of 
many  different  levels — Texcoco  the  largest  and  lowest. 
On  the  edge  of  Texcoco,  or  in  the  midst  of  it,  like  an- 
other Venice,  with  canals  for  streets,  was  built  ancient 
Mexico.  This  principal  lake  received  the  overflow  of  the 
others,  and  the  city  was  subject  to  frequent  inundations. 
It  is  even  now,  after  a  large  shrinkage  in  the  lakes,  but 
a  little  more  than  six  feet,  at  its  central  portion,  above 
Texcoco.  The  waters  of  the  three  upper  lakes — San  Cris- 
toval,   Xaltocan,  and    Zumpango — were   turned  back   as 


THE  VAPITAL.  47 

lias  been  dune  witli  tlie  Cliicago  Kiver  of  late.  A  great 
Spanish  drain  in  tlie  earlj  seventeenth  century,  the  Tajo 
of  Nochistongo,  was  cut  through  the  mountains,  and  got 
rid  of  them  in  the  direction  of  the  Atlantic. 

But  Texcoco  itself  has  no  outlet,  and,  as  experience 
has  proved,  even  with  only  Chalco  and  Xochimilco  to  be 
taken  care  of,  is  still  liable  to  overflow.  With  relief 
from  this  peril  is  inseparably  bound  up  the  drainage 
problem.  The  fall  is  so  slight  at  best,  that  though  Lake 
Texcoco  be  preserved  at  a  normal  level,  and  kept  from 
backing  up  into  the  sewers,  there  is  no  destination  for 
the  sewage  received  by  it,  which  lies  festering  in  the 
stagnant  water.  With  the  rest  is  complicated  also  the 
irrigation  of  the  valley.  No  end  of  plans  have  been 
offered  to  resolve  these  ditflculties.  Their  history  would 
make  an  interesting  chapter  by  itself.  Some  have  pro- 
posed to  piimp  out  the  lake  by  steam  ;  others,  to  inter- 
cept the  waters  running  into  it,  and  allow  it  to  dry  up 
naturally ;  another,  to  exhaust  it  by  means  of  a  great 
siphon  of  stone  and  cement.  But  the  judgment  of  most 
is  in  favor  of  establishing  a  current,  through  a  canal,  to 
some  point  lower  than  the  lake;  and  the  mountains  in 
the  neighborhood  have  been  searched  for  the  most  favor- 
able point  of  exit  for  such  a  canal. 

The  plan  was  officially  adopted,  in  fact,  and  a  consid- 
erable beginning  made,  under  the  direction  of  an  able 
engineer  of  foreign  education,  Don  Francisco  Garay. 
But  the  works  were  allowed  to  languish.  Neither  gov- 
ernment nor  community  seemed  more  than  half-hearted 
in  the  effort  to  get  rid  of  evils  to  which  they  had  so  long 
been  used.  The  problem  still  remains  one  of  the  most 
pressing  of  those  to  be  resolved,  and  one  of  the  most 
interesting  to  foreigners  intending  to  nuike  Mexico  their 
home. 


48  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


III. 

Choosing  any  street  at  random  where  all  are  so  attrac- 
tive, and  proceeding  to  its  termination,  in  this  direction 
or  that,  you  arrive  now  at  a  mere  cul-de-sac^  now  at  a 
city  gate,  now  at  vestiges  of  adobe  fortifications,  with  a 
moat.  Few  vehicles,  apart  from  the  hackney-coaches,  are 
to  be  seen,  but  plenty  of  troops  of  laden  donkeys,  and 
everywhere  the  cotton-clad  natives  themselves  bearing 
loads  under  which  the  regular  beasts  of  burden  might 
stagger.  There  is  a  story  that  when  wheelbarrows  were 
first  introduced  to  their  notice  on  the  railroad  works,  the 
natives  filled  them  in  the  usual  way,  and  then  carried 
them  on  their  backs. 

Each  separate  kind  of  business  has  its  distinctive  em- 
blem. The  butcher — elsewhere  not  a  person  noted  for 
great  taste  in  ornament — displays  a  crimson  banner,  and 
has  his  brass  scales  decked  with  rosettes.  His  supplies 
are  brought  him  by  a  mule,  trotting  along  with  quarters 
of  beef  or  carcasses  of  mutton  on  each  side  hung  from 
hooks.  But  it  is  especially  the  pulque  shops  (correspond- 
ing to  our  corner  liquor  stores)  which  devote  themselves 
to  decoration  in  its  most  florid  form.  Not  one  so  poor 
as  to  be  without  its  great  colored  tumblers,  and  ambitions 
fresco  of  a  battle  scene,  or  subject  from  mythology  or 
romance.  They  delight  in  such  titles  as  "  The  Ancient 
Glories  of  Mexico,"  "The  Famous  St.  Lorenzo,"  "The 
Sun  For  All,"  "  The  Terrestrial  Paradise,"  and  even 
"  The  Delirium,"  which  often  enough  expresses  the  con 
dition  of  customers  who  imbibe  too  freelj'. 

On  the  tramways  pass  not  only  passenger- ears,  but 
others  for  freight.  They  move  the  household  goods  of 
a  family,  for  instance.      There  are  also  impressive  catu- 


THE  CAPITAL. 


49 


50  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVIXCES. 

falqiies  and  inonn)iiig-cars,  running  smoothly  along,  with 
funeral  processions.  You  may  graduate  from  a  hearse 
witii  six  horses,  driver,  lackey,  and  four  pall-bearers,  all 
in  livery,  for  $120,  to  one  drawn  by  a  single  mule  for 
$3;  and  there  are  cars  for  the  mourners  in  the  grand 
style  at  $12  and  plain  for  $4. 

Both  these  ideas,  it  would  seem,  might  be  advanta- 
geously adopted  by  suburban  lines  of  our  ovvn. 

Presently  comes  by  a  more  economical  funeral  —  a 
couple  of  peons  (as  the  Indian  laborers  are  called),  at  a 
jog-trot,  bearing  a  pine  coffin  on  their  shoulders. 

Battered  old  churches  and  convents  on  a  great  scale, 
and  of  a  grand  architecture,  now  for  the  most  part  de- 
voted to  other  purposes,  are  extraordinarily  frequent. 
Before  the  sequestration  of  Church  property — in  the  war 
called  of  the  Reform,  under  Juarez,  in  1859 — Mexico  was 
well-nigh  one  great  ecclesiastical  estate.  Without  going 
into  the  religious  question,  and  supposing  only  the  opera- 
tion of  ordinary  causes,  it  is  easy  to  see  how  the  Church 
corporations — repositories  of  the  gifts  of  the  faithful, 
moved  by  no  feverish  haste  in  speculation,  and  with  no 
reckless  heirs  to  spend  their  gains — must  in  course  of 
time  have  become  possessed  of  an  enormous  share  of 
worldly  goods. 

There  is  no  lack  of  sculptured  old  rococo  palaces,  of 
the  conquerors  and  their  successors,  either.  Many  of 
these  are  of  a  peculiar,  rich  red  stone,  with  carved  es- 
cutcheons above  their  door-ways.  There  is  one  of  which 
I  was  fond,  in  the  Calle  de  Jesus,  with  immense  water- 
spouts to  its  cornice,  in  the  shape  of  field-pieces.  Wheels 
and  all  project  in  high  relief. 

Only  infinitesimal  quantities  of  vacant  land  exist  with- 
in the  compass  of  the  city.  All  is  compactly  built.  The 
Continental  system  of  partes  cocheres  and  interior  court- 


THE  CAPITAL. 


51 


ENTRANCE   TO    A    TENKMENT-HOUSE. 


yards  prevails.  How  many  glimpses,  both  pleasing  and 
curious,  into  these  interiors !  "What  a  pity  that  the  se- 
verity of  our  winters  prevents  building  in  a  style  which 
would  be  so  admirably  adapted  to  our  summers!  Over 
the  entrances  of  some  tenement-houses  are  placed  pious 
dedicatory  signs,  as  "  Casa  de  la  Santisima,"  "  Casa  de  la 
Divina  Providencia." 

One  day,  as  I  made  a  hasty  sketch  of  one  of  these,  with 
a  water-carrier  lying  asleep  in  the  archway,  the  custodian 
came  out  and  offered  strenuous  objections.  "  You  are 
mapping  the  house"  {inapixxndo  la  casa).,  he  said,  "and  I 
do  not  see  how  it  can  be  for  other  than  evil  purposes." 


52  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVIXCES.  i 

One  of  the  most  charming  of  all  the  mansions  I  saw 

stood  nearly  opposite  our  Iiotel,  and  was  faced  up  entirely 

with  china  tiles,  chiefly  blue  and  white,  and  set  with  old 

bronze  balconies,  as  dainty  and  quaint  as  a  dwelling  in 

fairy-land,     I  examined  the  interior  of  this  house   also, 

and  found  it   faced  within  as  well  with  the  same  sim- 

J 
pie,  Moorish-looking,  tiles,  in  staircase  walls,  ceilings,  and     \ 

even  the  high,  banked-up  furnace,  or  range,  in  the  kitch- 
en. An  affable  major-domo  occupied  his  leisure  with  ' 
painting,  in  a  large  library  on  the  ground-floor.  He  was  j 
just  now  engaged  in  copying  and  enlarging,  very  poorly,  j 
the  photograph  of  a  lady,  over  which  he  held  up  his 
brush  for  criticism.  A  maroon  carpet  was  laid  up  the 
centre  of  a  grand  staircase,  and  the  same  uniform  color 
prevailed  in  the  carpets  throughout.  The  rooms  were 
large  and  high,  the  principal  ones  opening  both  on  the 
street,  and,  by  means  of  light  glass  doors  draped  with 
lace,  on  the  balconies  running  around  the  courts.  These 
balconies  are  edged  in  the  genei'al  practice  with  climbing 
vines  and  rows  of  handsome  plants.  In  one  of  the  rear 
courts  could  be  heard  and  seen  the  family  carriage-horses, 
together  with  others  for  the  saddle,  stabled  according  to 
custom  under  the  common  roof. 

There  was  a  large  saloon,  with  divans,  and  old-fashioned 
mirrors,  sloped  forward  from  the  walls,  instead  of  pier- 
glasses;  and  a  little  boudoir,  with  furniture  entirely  in 
gilded  wood  and  cane.  There  was  a  pretty  family  chapel, 
with  two  prie-dieux  for  the  master  and  mistress,  and  a 
couple  of  benches  for  the  use  of  the  servants.  In  the 
bedrooms  of  such  houses  are  usually  religious  pictures, 
copies  of  Murillo  and  the  like ;  and  there  are  also  found 
quaint  eftigies  of  sacred  things,  as  a  representation  of  the 
Nativity ;  a  Christ,  with  purple  mantle  and  crown  of 
thorns;  a  life-size  Virgin,  in  raiment  of  tissue  of  silver, 


THE  CAPITAL.  53 

standing  upon  the  globe  and  a  serpent's  head.  The  men 
of  the  country  are  very  M'idely  imbued  with  the  sceptical 
spirit  of  the  age,  but  the  women,  whose  property  these 
objects  are,  are  still  devoutly  Catholic. 

These  rooms,  in  such  interiors,  though  less  lofty  and 
impressively  finished  perhaps  than  those  at  Havana,  have 
not  the  complexity  of  objects  with  which  we,  in  an  ill- 
understood  passion  for  decoration,  overload  our  own  in 
the  United  States.  They  are  large,  and  contain  a  few 
simple  articles,  with  plenty  of  space  around,  and  have  an 
unmistakable  dignity  of  effect.  When  we  can  make  up 
our  minds  to  do  that,  instead  of  depending  upon  a  com- 
plication of  costly  rarities  in  little  space,  we  shall  begin 
to  be  palatial,  and  not  merely  hon  hourgeois. 

We  do  not  know  how  republican  we  are,  after  all  our 
travelling  abroad  and  reverence  for  things  European,  till 
we  come  to  where  the  stately  old  Continental  traditions 
are  actually  in  force. 

One  of  the  enthusiasts  of  the  new  progressive  move- 
ment, writing  of  late  of  Monterey,  a  city  of  40,000  peo- 
ple, in  the  north,  already  connected  with  us  by  the  Mexi- 
can National  Kailway,  and  coming  into  notice  as  a  winter 
resort,  notes,  as  one  of  the  signs  of  improvement,  tliat 
"the  old  Latin  style  of  building,  the  square,  flat-roofed 
house,  with  interior  court,  is  giving  place,  in  tlie  new 
quarters,  to  American  architecture."  To  which  I  reply, 
Heaven  forbid!  Let  us  never  "improve"  away  with 
"American  architecture"  the  Moorish-looking  dwellings 
which,  to  lovers  of  the  picturesque,  should  be  one  of  the 
principal  inducements  for  visiting  the  country. 


54  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


THE  PROJECTORS. 

I. 

MEAiifWHiLE  the  court-yard  of  our  hotel,  the  pidace  of 
the  ancient  Emperor  Iturbide,  is  full  of  a  curious  group 
of  English-speaking  foreigners,  discussing  a  multitude  of 
projects.  They  sit  usually  in  chairs  on  a  little  terrace  at 
the  left  of  the  court,  behind  which  is  a  modest  little 
parlor,  with  a  piano.  As  a  general  rule,  the  Mexican  ho- 
tel is  without  parlor,  reading-room,  or  any  other  of  those 
appurtenances  we  are  accustomed  to  look  upon  as  an  es- 
sential part  of  the  composition  of  a  hotel. 

The  guests  take  their  meals  at  a  restaurant,  entered 
from  the  second  court,  or  at  other  restaurants  in  the  town 
where  they  please,  there  being  no  provision  by  the  hotel 
itself.  They  look  up  wearily  at  their  rooms  around  the 
circumscribing  galleries,  push  their  hats  on  the  back  of 
their  heads,  and  pass  their  hands  across  their  brows.  The 
atmosphere,  at  this  elevation  of  7600  feet,  is  very  rare, 
it  will  be  remembered,  and  most  are  affected  at  first  by  a 
feeling  of  dizziness  and  loss  of  appetite.  They  do  not 
find  themselves  quite  right  in  health  ;  and  even  the  most 
athletic  pause  once  or  twice,  and  hold  by  the  balusters, 
on  their  way  up-stairs.  The  same  amount  of  exercise 
cannot  be  taken,  in  fact,  by  either  men  or  animals,  as 
in  a  more  dense  atmosphere.  The  horses,  for  instance, 
though  good  and  speedj^,  can  only  be  run  short  distances, 
and  then,  as  evaporation  is  rapid  and  draughts  particu- 


THE  PROJECTORS.  55 

larly  dangerous,  must  not  be  let  stand,  but  must  be 
walked  up  and  down  till  gradually  cooled. 

I  recollect  my  first  glimpse  of  my  room,  to  which,  after 
an  interview  with  the  sepulchral  clerks  below,  I  was 
shown  by  the  barefooted  boy,  "  Pancho,"  carrying  a  tal- 
low dip.  It  was  without  windows  or  otlier  opening  ex- 
cept through  a  large  transom  above  the  door,  and  seemed 
hot  and  suffocating.  This  may  have  been  the  influence 
of  imagination,  however,  for  the  climate  is  rarely  either 
hot  or  cold,  but  noted  for  its  remarkable  evenness. 
There  is  no  provision  for  heating  during  the  winter.  It 
is  said  that  even  after  a  very  few  minutes  of  fire,  in 
stove  or  grate,  the  already  thin  air  becomes  so  much  far- 
ther expanded  as  to  produce  discomfort.  Later,  in  my 
long  stay  at  this  hotel,  I  had  a  room  higher  up,  on  the 
sculptured  front,  looking  down  upon  the  life  in  the  thor- 
oughfare, which,  taking  a  separate  name  at  every  block, 
is  here  the  Calle  de  San  Francisco.  Again,  I  had  one 
with  a  window  commanding  the  shining,  tile-covered 
dome  and  part  of  a  garden  approach  to  the  lovely  old 
convent  of  San  Francisco,  now  devoted  to  the  uses  of  an 
Episcopal  mission,  and  bej'ond  that  the  mountains,  with 
the  fair  blue  sky  above  them.  Rising  to  begin  the  day, 
the  mornings  were  found  peaceful  and  lovely,  the  genial 
sunshine  bathing  the  prospect,  the  blue  sky  but  varied 
with  the  piled-up  clouds  out  of  which  castles  in  the  air 
are  constructed.  The  visitor,  having  got  over  his  tem- 
porary oppression,  remarks  upon  this  almost  unbroken 
series  with  increasing  wonder  and  admiration.  It  is 
hardly  the  custom  to  comment  on  the  weather  in  Mex- 
ico, at  least  in  the  agreeable  season,  though  the  rainy 
season  is  a  different  matter. 

"  A  pleasant  day  ?"  says  the  listener,  with  lifted  eye- 
brows, should  you  do  so.     "  Well,  why  not  ?" 


OLD   MhWlCO   AXlJ  HER   LOST  riiOVINCES. 


]\[ost  familiar 
among  the  group 
of  English-speak- 
ing foreign ei"8  in 
the  court-yard  dur- 
ing my  stay  was 
General  Grant, 
who  has  lent  a 
part  of  his  great 
fame  to  the  devel- 
opment of  the  re- 
sources of  a  much- 
suffering  people. 
Did  he  ever  reflect 
in  these  historic 
halls,  one  wonder- 
ed, on  the  career 
of  the  Emperor 
Iturbide?  Had  all 
the  talk  on  Csesar- 
ism  in  the  Press 
ever  put  the  idea  the  least  bit  in  his  head?  Rumors, 
mischievous  to  the  cause  of  amity,  ran  at  the  very  time 
that  it  was  in  Mexico,  not  the  United  States,  that  he  pro- 
posed to  found  his  empire.  Certainly  it  would  be  diflS- 
cult  to  imagine  so  nn melodramatic  a  figure  in  the  robes 
and  stars  and  crosses  in  which  Iturbide  has  arrayed  him- 
self, after  the  pattern  of  Napoleon  the  Great,  in  his  por- 
trait at  the  National  Palace. 

Iturbide  wrote  in  his  memoirs — wliich,  as  a  display  of 
egotism,  are  highly  interesting  reading — one  sagacious 
sentence.  "  Devotees  of  theories,"  he  says,  "  are  apt  to 
forget  that  in  the  moral  as  in  the  physical  order  only  a 
gradual  progress  can  be  expected." 


OLD    SPANISH    PALACK    IX    THK    CAt.LE    DE    JESfS 


THE  rUVJECTORS. 


hi 


This  is  very  ti-ue;  but  the  sliort-lived  Emperor  fori^ot, 
as  have  inany  of  his  republican  successors,  that  despotism 
can    never   edu- 
cate the  citizen 
for  the  duties  of 
freedom. 

Only  once  be- 
fore —  namely, 
on    the    coming 
of  Maximilian — 
has  there  been  a 
stir   that   might 
be  compared  to 
the  present  in  a 
country     which 
the   progress  of 
the  century  has 
heretofore     seemed 
Could  a  secure  govei 
have     been     establ 
would  have  been  dc 
new-comers  arrive( 
not   as   friends ;   and  the   condi- 
tions   were    wholly    unfavorable. 
The  real  improvements,  too,  apart 
from  those  intended  for  the  glit- 
ter and  the  comfort  of  the  throne, 
were   but   the   shadow   of   those 
proposed  to-day. 

Here  the  more  efficient  light- 
ing of  the  city  by  electric  light 

was  heard  discussed  ;  there  the  opening  of  coal  mines  ; 
here  the  establishment  of  sugar  refineries,  shoe  factories, 
cotton  mills.     There  M-ere  archaeologists,  constructors  of 

3* 


SKMI-VILI.A    u.,     lili.    I'ASKO    OF 
BUCAIIELLI. 


58 


OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  riiOVINCES. 


■rf=l 


telegraph  lines,  and  engineers  starting  out  or  returning 
from  reconuoissances.      This  person  had  come  down   to 
look   into    coffee  -  plantations  ;    that, 
^  f      ^Q  establish  a  new  line  of  steamers. 

This  discourses  of  the  improving 
tranquillity  of  the  country,  and  as- 
serts that  three  ploughs  are  now 
sold  to  one  revol- 
ver, lie  names 
over  prominent 
bandits  who  have 
become  peaceable 
contractors  and 
farmers. 

Some  will  or- 
ganize banks  of 
issue,  and  rid  us 
of  the  cumbrous 
silver  dollar.  An- 
otlier  is  up  from 
the  interior  with 
a  scheme  for  a  colony  and  mines — much  too  rose-colored, 
one  would  say — with  which  he  will  start  back  to  New 
York  to  organize  a  syndicate.  Mines  of  gold  and  silver 
are  one  of  the  specialties  of  the  country ;  but  they  seem 
to  present  fully  the  uncertainties  of  mines  elsewhere. 

Some  organized  dinners,  at  which  Mexican  senators  and 
deputies  were  enlisted  for  the  cultivation  of  more  friendly 
relations.  These  were  held  at  the  Concordia  restaurant, 
or  the  Tivoli  of  Bucarelli,  or  of  the  Eliseo  (summer  gar- 
dens), with  spacious  banqueting  halls.  Much  internation- 
al good-feeling  was  manifested,  and  the  Mexican  national 
anthem  and  the  "  Star  Spangled  Banner"  were  played 
alternately  after   the   speeches.     Everything   was   to  be 


THE   MODERN   STYLE. 


THE  PROJECTORS. 


59 


F^ 


made  over  anew.  A  few-  of  the  younger  men  were  go- 
ing and  returning  from  expeditions  of  pleasure.  They 
came  back  from  a  bull-fight ;  from  the  baths  of  Alberca 
Pane,  where  there  is  a  fine  tank  for  swimming,  covered 
with  an  awning ;  or  the  theatre.  They  had  many  an 
amusing  gibe,  after  our  American  way,  on  tlie  backward- 
ness of  things,  and  the  di£Fereuce  of  manners  and  .  cus- 
toms in  the  country. 

But  pleasure  had  as  yet  few  votaries ;  the  object  of 
most  was  serious  work.  The  business  of  railroad-build- 
ing, and  procuring  of  charters  and  subventions  from 
government,  threw  all  else  into  the  shade.  Five  great 
lines,  two  of  which  had  already 
made  long  strides,  were  to  trav- 
erse the  country  from  north  to 
south,  and  more  than  twice  as 
many  from  east  to  west,  connect- 
in  o;  the  oceans. 
There  were  said  | 
to  be  six  hun- 
dred American  i 
engineers  in 
Mexico.  They  | 
are  often  young 
graduates  of 
Cornell  and  oth- 
er polytechnic 
schools.  In  the 
capital  the  en-  Lt 
gineers  and  em-  porcelain  house  in  san  francisco  street. 

ployes  form  set- 
tlements in  boarding-houses  of  their  own  ;  make  resorts 
of  certain  economical  restaurants  where  little  but  English 
is  spoken.      They  associate  but  little   M'ith  the  natives, 


6U  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

but  go  al)out  their  woi'k  rather  rough-and-ready  in  ap- 
pearance, and  seem  to  postpone  adornment  till  tlie  heat 
and  burden  of  the  campaign  are  over.  Thei'e  was  a 
noticeable  Sonthern  element  among  them  ;  and  it  will 
be  found,  generally,  that  the  enterprises  in  Mexico  have 
attracted  a  large  repi'esentation  from  the  Sonthei'n  States. 
There  is  still,  among  the  rest,  a  remnant  of  the  ex-Con- 
federate officers  who  came  hither  after  the  war,  to  eno-ao'e 
— without  great  success,  as  it  happened — in  coffee-plant- 
ing and  the  like. 

Not  a  few  of  the  young  engineers,  however,  particu- 
larly those  who  have  their  field  of  operations  in  the 
provinces,  have  already  found  wives  among  the  slender 
senoritas  of  the  country.  It  seems  another  case  of  going 
after  the  women  of  Moab,  as  it  w^ere,  for  the  rumor 
comes  back  that  these  exacting  helpmeets  have  often 
made  them  change  their  religion,  as  a  preliminary  to 
naming  the  happy  day. 

II. 

A  leading  point  with  the  projectors,  is  whether  or  not 
Mexico  is  likely  to  become  a  large  or  metropolitan  city. 
It  seems  difficult,  when  on  the  ground,  to  doubt  it. 
Great  cities  have  sprung  up  at  a  mere  intersection  of 
railroads.  But  here  is  one  with  a  population  of  250,000 
people  alread}',  a  seat  of  government  and  of  schools,  col- 
leges, museums,  and  galleries  of  fine  arts,  with  an  ad- 
mirable climate  and  extraordinary  scenerj',  and  three 
hundred  and  sixty  j^ears  and  traditions  of  great  fascina- 
tion behind  it.  There  are  to  come  into  or  connect  with 
it,  when  all  is  complete,  the  Mexican  Central,  National, 
and  International  roads,  from  the  north ;  the  Mexican 
Oriental,  on  the  eastern  seaboard,  and  Occideittal,  on  the 
western  ;  and  General  Grant's  road,  the  Mexican  South- 


THE  rROJEVTOliS.  01 

ern,  from  the  sontli — all  to  liave  iritoroceanic  branches 
and  feeders ;  the  Morelos  road,  the  Acapiilco  road,  the 
English  road  to  Vera  Criiz ;  another,  now  eonstrncting, 
to  the  same  point  by  Pnebla  and  Jalapa;  and  a  number 
of  short  lines  of  less  importance. 

A  small  portion  only  of  this  would  be  sufficient  to 
create  a  metro])olis  outright,  while  Mexico  has  grown  to 
a  certain  greatness  with  no  advantages  at  all — not  even 
wagon -roads.  It  seems  its  manifest  destiny,  with  its 
central  position  on  transcontinental  lines,  and  its  estab- 
lished prestige,  to  become  the  chief  depository  and  place 
of  exchange  for  the  whole  country.  It  ought  to  be  a 
favorable  point,  too,  for  manufactures,  and  to  become  the 
metropolitan  residence  of  the  wealthy  from  the  interior. 
These  have  rarely  come  to  the  capital  heretofore.  Not 
even  the  senators  and  deputies  bring  their  families,  ow- 
ing to  the  barbarous  state  of  the  roads.  The  existing 
difficulties  of  communication  can  hardly  be  conceived. 
There  are  perfectly  authentic  accounts  of  persons  who 
have  gone  from  Mexico  to  Vera  Cruz,  thence  to  New 
York,  thence  across  to  San  Francisco,  and  thence  hy 
Pacific  mail-steamer  to  Acapulco,  rather  than  make  the 
direct  journey  of  three  hundred  miles  on  mule -back 
over  the  sierra. 

It  is  fair  to  say,  however,  that  there  are  those  who 
think  the  future  metropolis  may  be  farther  to  the  north, 
as  at  San  Luis  Potosi. 

If  Mexico,  then,  is  to  be  a  great  citv,  whither  is  it  to 
spread?  It  is  compactly  built  within,  and  much  of  the 
land  about  it  is  low,  traversed  by  causeways.  There  is 
no  better  place  to  think  about  it,  nor  to  look  down  ui)on 
the  capital  as  a  whole,  than  Chapultepec. 

My  first  visit  there  was  made  on  the  tramway,  where  I 
fell  in  with  a  Mexican  colonel,  wdio  told  me  that  he  liked 


62  OLD   MEXICO  AXD  HER   LOST  FliOVLVCES. 

the  Aiiieiicaiis  very  well,  lie  had  spent  some  time  in 
captivity  among  them,  liaving  been  taken  prisoner  at 
San  Jacinto,  and  had  learned  to  know  them  as  they  are. 
They  mean  well,  he  said,  and  are  enterprising  and  appre- 
ciative of  the  arts  of  life;  and  you  can  depend  upon  what 
they  say.  Most  of  his  countrymen,  he  said,  very  sensibly, 
did  not  understand  this,  but  w'ere  distrustful  and  jeal- 
ous. Their  idea  of  American  character,  in  fact,  is  largely 
derived  from  foreign  books  in  which  it  is  conventional- 
ized and  caricatured  in  an  unfi-iendly  way.  There  is  evi- 
dence of  it  on  every  hand.  The  American,  as  touched 
upon  in  the  newspapers  and  current  literature,  is  the 
"Yankee"  of  Dickens  and  followers  of  less  intelligence 
on  the  Continent.  He  is  a  sordid  person,  exclusively 
wrapped  up  in  "dollars,"  and  can  know  but  little  of  the 
chivalrous  nature  of  those  who  thus  su])ercilionsly  disap- 
prove of  him. 

There  is  nothing  very  warlike  about  Chapultepec  at 
present.  A  glimpse  is  got,  as  you  approach,  of  a  light, 
oblong,  colonnaded  edifice,  with  a  lookout  on  the  top, 
Mhich  is  now  a  part  of  the  government  observatory. 
The  hill  is  not  precipitously  high,  though  of  a  good  ele- 
vation. There  is  a  monument  at  its  foot  to  the  memory 
of  the  pupils  of  the  military  school  who  fell  in  its  defence 
in  1847,  and  in  the  grounds  moss-grown  cypresses  and  a 
tank  of  clear  water.  1  found  the  main  part  of  the  build- 
ing, when  an  upper  terrace  was  reached,  in  a  state  of  ruin. 
The  light  iron  columns  of  an  arcade  had  been  coquettish- 
ly  painted  and  gilded,  and  its  walls  decorated  in  the  Pom- 
peian  style,  under  Maximilian,  but  all  had  been  wrecked 
in  the  revolutions.  There  was  a  little  garden,  in  which 
a  small  guide  picked  me  some  flowers.  He  answered, 
"  Quien  sabe  .^"  in  a  childish  lisp,  to  most  inquiries,  just 
as  his  fathei",  the  custodian,  if  he  had  been  there,  would 


THE  PROJECTORS. 


63 


;^"^fe^-55fTW^ 


64  OLIJ  MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  FROVIXVES. 

liave  answered  in  liis  deeper  base.  '■'' Quien  KaheV  (Who 
knows?)  is  a  more  dreamy  and  speculative  rendering  of 
oar  own  "Give  it  up,"  or  perhaps  "Dunno!" 

The  most  prominent  object,  in  the  long  line  of  the 
distant  city  against  the  bright  gleam  of  Lake  Texcoco 
behind  it,  is  a  sudden  little  volcanic  hill — El  Penon — 
which  rises  out  of  it  like  a  teocalli ;  and  next  to  this  the 
cathedral. 

As  the  lay  of  the  land  is  studied  from  here  it  seems 
rather  natural  that  the  city  of  the  future,  on  grounds  of 
good  drainage,  ease  of  access,  and  scenery,  should  advance 
in  this  direction  to  Chapultepec,  ex-palace  of  the  Monte- 
ziimas  and  of  viceroys,  military  school,  fortress,  and  ob- 
servatory, on  the  foremost  spur  of  the  foot-hills. 

This  was  the  intelligent  forecast  of  Maximilian  —  a 
ruler,  it  must  be  admitted,  much  better  fitted  to  cope 
with  such  pleasant  matters  than  the  ferocity  of  Mexi- 
can war  and  diplomac3\  And  such  was  the  view  of  a 
rather  wild-cat  American  Improvement  Company,  found 
among  the  projectors  in  the  court-j-ard,  which  professed 
to  intend  a  large  purchase  of  land  for  building  upon,  to 
sell  part  of  it,  with  houses,  on  the  instalment  plan,  and  to 
put  up  a  mammoth  hotel. 

It  seemed  a  little  incongruous,  this  selling  of  the  heri- 
tage of  Montezuma  on  the  instalment  plan ;  but  we  are 
a  people  who  do  not  stop  even  at  the  niost  venerable  of 
traditions;  and  the  scheme  might  not  be  a  bad  one  in 
responsible  hands. 

Maximilian  also  made  Chapultepec  his  summer  palace, 
and  laid  out  to  it  the  handsome  Paseo  de  la  Ileforma,  the 
afternoon  drive  and  promenade  —  the  Bois  and  Central 
Park  of  fashionable  Mexico.  During  Lent,  liowever, 
fashion  takes  the  caprice  of  changing  to  the  Paseo  de  la 
Yiga,  along  the  canal  by  which   vegetables  and  flowers 


THE  PROJECTORS.  65 

are  brouglit  to  the  capital  from  the  floating  gardens. 
The  Paseo  de  la  Refonna  is  a  wide,  straiglit  boulevard, 
nearly  two  miles  long,  starting  from  a  certain  equestrian 
statue  of  Charles  IV.  of  Spain — the  first  bronze  cast  in 
this  hemisphere,  and  line  and  excellent  w^ork.  It  is  two 
luindred  feet  wide,  and  has  a  double  row  of  trees — euca- 
lyptus and  ash  —  shading  its  sidewalks.  The  Mexican 
equestrian  dandy  should  be  observed  as  he  curvets  his 
horse  along  it  among  the  fine  carriages.  He  wears  now 
not  only  his  weighty  spurs  and  silver-braided  sombrero, 
but  a  cutlass  at  his  saddle-bow,  and  larger  revolvers  than 
ever.  Not  that  there  is  need  of  them,  since  a  couple  of 
mounted  carbineers — of  whom  there  seems  no  great  need 
either — are  stationed  at  nearly  ever}'  hundred  yards;  but 
tiiey  are  a  part  of  his  peculiar  display.  Some  of  our 
young  Americans,  too,  in  the  country,  it  must  be  said, 
almost  out -Mexican  the  Mexicans  themselves,  carrying 
all  their  customs  to  an  exaggerated  extreme. 

There  are  to  be  six  circles,  with  statues,  spaced  at 
proper  intervals  along  the  way.  The  first,  containing  a 
fine  Columbus,  is  finished ;  a  Guatemozin,  for  the  sec- 
ond, is  in  progress.  The  next,  it  is  said,  will  contain 
Cortez.  There  at  last  will  stand,  face  to  face  —  their 
countrymen  now  one  people — the  heroic  defender  and 
the  heroic  conqueror,  the  two  characters  of  such  contra- 
dictory traits  within  themselves,  who  both  acted  accord- 
ing to  their  lights  in  their  day  and  generation,  and  but 
followed  the  path  of  inevitable  destiny. 

The  causeways  of  La  Veronica  and  La  Romita — con- 
taining ancient  small-arched  aqueducts,  which  bring  water 
to  the  city — branch  off  from  Chapultepec,  and  form  two 
sides  of  an  obtuse  triangle,  which  the  Paseo  (or  Calzada) 
de  la  Reforma  bisects.  It  was  along  these  causeways  that 
the  Americans  ran,  in  that  invasion  of  a  very  different 


66  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOIST  PROVINCES. 

character,  in  1847.  It  is  said  that  as  Shields  was  charg- 
ing on  that  to  the  right,  after  the  fall  of  tlie  castle,  Scott, 
fearing  liis  imprudent  liaste,  sent  to  detain  him.  The 
aide  had  got  as  far  as  the  preliminary  "General  Scott  pre- 
sents his  compliments,  and  hegs  to  say — "  when  Shields, 
apprehending  the  message,  cut  him  short  with,  "I  have 
no  time  for  compliments  now,"  and  hurried  on,  and  got 
into  the  city  before  he  could  be  overtaken. 

Do  the  Mexicans  bear  us  a  grudge  for  all  that  ?  They 
seem  just  now  to  have  amiably  forgotten  it,  and  far  be  it 
from  me  to  revive  such  memories  in  a  boasting  spirit. 
There  is  a  behind-the-scenes  to  it,  here,  upon  the  ground. 
It  is  pathetic,  and  by  no  means  calculated  to  pro- 
duce complacency,  to  read  in  the  small  history  studied 
in  the  schools  the  Mexican  account  of  what  took  place. 
The  almost  unbroken  series  of  defeats  from  which  they 
went  up,  without  hope  of  success,  to  the  slaughter  are 
frankly  admitted.  The  country  was  torn  by  internal  dis- 
sensions. The  generals  went  back  from  the  field  to  put 
down  or  sustain  governments,  refused  to  aid  one  another 
in  their  operations,  and  availed  themselves  of  the  troops 
given  them  to  seize  upon  power,  instead  of  fighting  the 
Americans.  There  were  not  less  than  eleven  changes  of 
government,  chiefly  violent,  during  the  short  course  of 
the  war.  In  February  and  March  of  the  year  in  which, 
in  September,  the  invaders  made  their  entry  there  had 
been  fighting  in  the  streets  of  the  capital  for  well-nigh  a 
month  between  two  presidents,  neitlier  strong  enough  to 
put  the  other  down.  Want  of  courage  is  not  a  Mexican 
failing.  It  was  want,  of  leaders,  unity,  everything  that 
gives  steadiness  in  a  great  crisis. 

The  land  ostensibly  aimed  at  by  tlie  so-called  Improve- 
ment Company  follows  the  Calzada  of  the  Reform  for 
a  considerable  part  of  its  length.     It  lies  vacant,  except 


THE  PROJECTORS.  67 

for  use  as  pasture.  It  lias  not  been  safe  to  live  too  far 
from  tlie  tliicklj-settled  district  till  the  establishment  of 
law  and  order  by  the  present  administration,  and  the  city 
itself  has  furnished  room  enough.  But  what  new  accom- 
modations are  to  be  needed  in  the  great  future,  with  the 
vision  of  which  imaginations  are  regaling  themselves,  it 
is  not  an  easy  matter  to  determine. 

Villas  wxM-e  spoken  of,  to  be  built  with  restricted 
rights,  so  as  to  preserve  a  select  and  park -like  aspect. 
There  were  to  be  front  lots  enough  on  the  Calzada  alone 
to  pay  the  cost.  The  grand  hotel  talked  of  was  to  sur- 
pass anything  on  the  continent. 

If  somebody  would  but  put  up  a  hotel  equal  to  our 
own  of  the  second  grade  it  would  be  a  boon  to  American 
travellers.  It  might  expect  to  draw,  too,  not  a  few  of 
the  Mexicans  themselves,  who  are  hardly  slower  than  the 
rest  of  the  world  in  recognizing  a  good  thing  when  they 
see  it.  The  magnates  who  shall  have  made  fortunes  in 
the  new  enterprises,  and  others  who  have  them  already, 
could,  no  doubt,  be  relied  on  for  a  liberal  patronage. 

III. 

This  project  is  of  no  farther  importance  than  as  a 
text  for  a  mention  of  the  Mexican  tax  and  real  estate 
laws,  which  have  their  features  of  decided  interest.  "In 
the  moral  as  in  the  physical  order,"  as  our  friend  Itur- 
bide  tells  us,  "  only  a  gradual  progress  can  be  expected." 
A  nation  of  nine  or  ten  millions,  two-thirds  of  whom  are 
of  pure  Indian  blood,  used  only  to  the  most  primitive 
and  poverty-stricken  ways  of  life,  cannot  be  too  sud- 
denly pushed  forward.  They  must  be  allowed  to  go  at  a 
certain  pace,  even  with  the  best  of  intentions,  and  slowly 
adapt  themselves  to  the  improvements  designed  for  their 


08  OLD   MhWICO  A XI)  HER   LOST  J'JiOVINCJSK 

good  ;  for  it  is  by  tliem,  tlic  rank  and  tile,  after  all,  that 
these  must  be  siii>portcd. 

The  country  might  seem,  at  first  sight,  the  most  glori- 
ous place  for  I'eal  estate  speculation  in  the  world.  Iteal 
property  is  not  taxed  except  upon  such  income  as  it  pro- 
duces. When  not  actually  producing  income,  it  may  be 
idle  indefinitely,  and  escape  scot-free,  however  much  it 
may  enhance  in  value  meanwhile.  But  there  are  embar- 
rassing restrictions,  devised  through  fear  and  jealousy  of 
the  foreigner,  which  make  the  prospect  much  less  attrac- 
tive. The  traveller  of  means  cannot  follow  his  whim, 
as  he  might  almost  anywhere  else  in  the  world,  of  buy- 
ing a  pretty  bit  of  land  or  house  that  attracts  him  and 
leaving  it,  to  return  to  when  he  will,  or  do  what  he 
please  with  it. 

By  the  Mexican  Civil  Code  "  no  foreigner  may,  with- 
out previous  permission  of  the  President  of  the  Hepub- 
lic,  acquire  real  estate  in  the  frontier  states  or  territory 
within  twenty  leagues  of  the  frontier."  And  "  it  is  ab- 
solutely prohibited  to  foreigners  to  acquire  rustic  or 
urban  property  within  five  leagues  of  the  coast." 

This  may  be  well  enough,  and  is  aimed  principally  at 
the  United  States,  as  a  way  of  preventing  any  gradual 
encroachments  from  the  borders ;  but  farther,  and  more 
important :  no  foreigner  may  own  real  property  at  all, 
except  on  condition  of  remaining  permanently  and  look- 
ing after  it.  If  he  be  absent  fron'i  the  country  for  two 
years,  his  property  may  be  denounced  and  entered  by  the 
first  comer,  the  same  as  if  it  were  a  mine.  lie  cannot 
even  have  an  agent  in  the  country  to  hold  it  for  him. 
Nor,  even  should  he  comply  with  the  rigid  condition 
named,  could  he  then  sell  it  to  another  foreigner. 

The  transient  foreigner,  so  far  as  he  is  concerned,  can- 
not acquire  real  estate  on  any  condition. 


THE  PROJECTORS.  69 

All  this  is  set  down  in  the  Code  in  the  most  explicit 
terms.  The  most  driving  improvement  company,  there- 
fore, could  sell  lots  only  to  Mexicans.  The  class  of 
wealthy  Americans  expected  as  winter  residents  would 
be  ruled  out  of  the  calculation,  though,  of  course,  they 
may  stop  at  the  hotel. 

There  is  also  some  ambiguity  as  to  what  commercial 
corporations,  with  one-third  of  their  directors  resident  in 
the  counti-y,  may  or  may  not  do,  since  the  construction 
of  the  term  "•  corpuration"  is  not  the  same  as  with  us. 
Some  construing  or  explanatory  enactments  are  needed 
to  remedy  the  ambiguity  last  mentioned,  and  an  entire 
sweeping  away  is  needed  of  all  the  rest. 

If  there  be  sincerity  in  the  manifestations  of  desire  for 
progress,  and  aid  from  without,  Mexico  must  sweep  away 
narrow  and  benighted  restrictions.  If  outside  capital  be 
demanded  for  works  of  amelioration  and  embellishment, 
how  can  it  be  expected  at  such  a  price? 

And  why,  in  the  name  of  goodness,  in  this  enlightened 
day,  should  not  the  foreigner  be  put  upon  the  same  foot- 
ing as  the  native  in  these  matters,  and  allowed  to  hold 
property  wherever  he  will  throughout  the  civilized  world? 

Let  the  foreigner  bear  in  mind,  too,  that  he  must 
be  matriculated  at  the  Department  of  Foreign  Affairs, 
through  the  Consul-general,  in  order  to  have  any  recog- 
nized standing  in  a  court  of  justice,  in  cases  of  difficulty. 
Without  this  formality  even  his  foreignness  is  not  nec- 
essarily conceded  to  him  as  a  protection. 


70  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  riiOVINCES. 


VI. 

THE  FERRO-CARRILES. 


The  ferro-carriles,  the  caminos  de  fierro,  or  railways, 
were  the  business  of  the  hour.  In  speaking  of  tlie  com- 
ing greatness  of  the  capital  I  mentioned  glibly  the  prin- 
cipal ones  which  are  supposed  to  have  a  part  in  it.  They 
are  by  no  means  all  built.  Far  from  it !  It  is  not  even 
certain  that  some  of  the  most  promising  of  them,  on 
paper,  ever  will  be  built. 

The  matter  of  granting  railroad  charters  in  Mexico  is 
by  no  means  new.  They  have  been  granted  for  thirty 
years  or  so,  to  Europeans  and  natives,  who  did  little  or 
nothing  with  them.  It  was  only  when,  under  the  adop- 
tion of  a  more  enlightened  policy,  they  came  to  be 
granted  to  Americans  that  the  roads  were  built  and  the 
charters  had  a  value.  At  once  everybody  w4io  prided 
himself  upon  the  necessary  influence  began  to  desire  a 
charter  also.  He  might  not  want  to  use  it  at  once,  but 
could  keep  it  and  see  what  turn  things  were  to  take.  Or 
he  might  transfer  it  to  some  more  powerful  ownership 
to  which  it  would  be  worth  a  consideration.  This  new 
ownership,  too,  might  wait  to  see  what  was  likely  to 
happen.  If  railways  promised  to  be  profitable  in  the 
country,  it  was  well  for  certain  great  corporations  in  the 
United  States  to  have  their  feeders  or  extensions  there ; 
at  any  rate,  they  could  keep  others  from  the  field  till  they 
should  be  satisfied  of  its  character.  '% 


THE  FERRO-CARRILES.  Yl 

It  is  in  this  way,  I  surmise,  that  some  of  the  present 
franchises  have  been  got,  and  are  reflectively  held.  There 
have  been  henchmen  to  procure  them  and  turn  them  over 
to  patrons,  who  wait  a  while  before  going  to  work,  trust- 
ing to  influence  to  procure  the  proper  extensions  and 
renewals  of  time,  if  needed. 

Stories  were  afloat  of  practices  employed  in  the  obtain- 
ing of  concessions  and  subsidies,  which  I  should  prefer 
to  believe  falsifications.  I  heard  one  or  two  of  them,  it 
is  true,  from  somewhat  inside  sources,  and  such  practices 
are  not  unknown  elsewhere;  yet  I  like  much  better  to 
think  that  there  are  no  persons  of  standing  and  influence 
in  Mexico  who  could  prostitute  their  high  position,  and 
]iut  a  shameless  greed  for  gain  before  the  public  in- 
terest in  a  crisis  like  the  present,  as  these  stories  seem 
to  indicate. 

"  Why,  in  our  great  West,"  said  an  American  visitor, 
settling  himself  back  in  his  chair  to  complain  vigorously 
of  certain  treatment  he  had  received,  "if  an  immigrant 
comes  among  us,  we  give  him  a  lift.  We  help  him  build 
his  house,  or  perhaps  put  him  np  a  barn  ;  and  are  glad 
to  do  it.  If  he  has  capital  to  start  some  kind  of  factory, 
we  give  him  a  piece  of  land  free  of  charge.  That  is  the 
American  style.  We  put  our  hands  in  our  pockets  and 
pay  out  a  little,  knowing  full  well  that  we  shall  get  it 
back  in  time  in  the  greater  prosperity  of  the  town." 

"Yes,"  I  said,  by  way  of  sympathy  with  his  aggrieved 
situation,  and  a  proper  pride  in  the  American  style  of 
doing  things,  "  and  I  am  told  that,  in  Chicago  and  St. 
Louis,  they  pay  his  hotel  bills  a  while,  and  try  to  keep 
him,  if  not  as  a  permanent  resident,  at  least  long  enough 
to  get  out  a  new  census,  in  which  he  may  be  included." 

"  But  here,"  my  interlocutor  continued,  "  there  is  noth- 
ing of  the  kind.     The  first  thing  they  ask  about  a  new- 


72  OLD    MEXICO  AND  HER  LOUT  PROVINCE.S. 

comer  is,  'How  inncli  can  we  make  out  of  liim  ?'  They 
want  pay  for  permitting  him  to  do  sometliing  for  them. 
There  is  no  public  spirit,  no  local  pride.  What  they 
want  is  exorbitant  gains." 

He  went  on  to  tell  of  an  application  for  a  charter 
by  an  American  company,  which  was  absolutely  refused. 
They  were  afterward  approached  and  told  that  the  privi- 
lege would  be  granted  to  a  committee  of  Mexican  sena- 
tors, who  would  in  their  turn  transfer  it  to  the  company 
for  a  handsome  consideration.  The  go-betweens  in  this 
negotiation  declared  that  the  personages  who  were  to 
have  the  final  voice  in  the  granting  of  the  charter,  as  well 
as  themselves,  would  require  to  be  paid,  which  might 
have  been  true,  and  might  not.  A  liberal  share  of  the 
subsidy  to  be  voted  for  the  railway  was  to  be  exhausted 
in  this  way. 

I  do  not  know  whether  this  be  anything  more  than 
political  "striking,"  or  black-mailing,  with  which  we  are 
familiar  at  Albanj'  and  elsewhere,  and  whether  the  cor- 
ruption ever  really  reaches  to  head-quarters.  At  any  rate, 
it  was  said  that  some  part  of  the  aid  devoted  to  each  sev- 
eral enterprise  was  diverted  in  this  way  to  private  bene- 
fit. The  drainage  of  the  valley  had  been  offered  in  the 
United  States  at  a  reduction  of  forty  per  cent,  from  the 
amount  voted  by  the  appropriation  bill,  the  difference  to 
be  retained  by  the  purveyors  of  the  opportunity.  One 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  cash  was  demanded,  again, 
as  a  preliminary,  for  the  opportunity  to  fill  in  the  works 
of  a  certain  harbor  with  stone  at  a  reasonable  rate.  Such 
accounts  may  be  worth  looking  into  by  Mexican  authori- 
ty, with  the  interest  of  good  and  economical  work  and 
the  abatement  of  scandal  at  heart.  There  is  probably  no 
better  form  of  patriotism  for  Mexico  just  now  than  a 
strict  and  uncompromising  honesty  of  administration. 


THE  FERRO-CARRILES.  73 


II. 


There  were  entered  in  the  convenient  statistical  hand- 
book known  as  tlie  "  Annnario  Universal,"  for  the  year, 
a  list  of  forty-one  railways  as  in  explotacion  (running), 
or  under  construction.  But  after  many  of  those  enu- 
merated was  inserted  a  note,  to  the  effect  that,  owing  to 
some  unforeseen  delay,  the  works  were  not  yet  begun. 
Taking  out  these,  and  a  larger  number  on  which,  tiiough 
technically  begun,  little  or  no  labor  had  been  expended, 
there  was  still  an  nnlooked  for  array  of  constructed 
roads.  Taking  out  the  Eng  ish  road  from  Vera  Cruz, 
and  what  had  been  done  by  the  American  con)panies, 
almost  at  the  moment,  these  \vere  found  to  consist  of 
short  bits  of  local  line  scattered  throughout  the  country. 
There  was  not  a  through  line  among  them  ;  many  were 
operated  by  animal  traction  only;  they  had  been  built  by 
natives,  been  afilicted  by  bankruptcies  and  other  troubles; 
and  represented  the  railway  situation  of  the  country 
apart  from  outside  assistance.  You  were  even  drawn  a 
good  part  of  the  way  by  animals  on  the  English  branch 
from  Vera  Cruz  to  Jalapa;  and  in  going  from  Mexico 
to  the  mines  at  Pachuca,  after  leaving  the  main  line  at 
Ometusco,  we  took  first  a  diligence,  and  were  then  pulled 
by  mules  in  a  Philadelphia-built  horse-car.  The  number 
of  these  isolated  bits  has  not  increased  in  the  mean  time, 
several  of  them  having  been  bought  up  and  incorporated 
in  the  larger  enterprises. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  list  of  projected  roads 
at  least  has  been  liberally  increased.  The  Congressional 
session  of  1881  was  the  most  active  ever  known  in  the 
authorization  of  new  enterprises  on  a  great  scale.  The 
great  Mexican   Central,  trunk   line,  had,  however,  been 

4 


74  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  FliOVINCES. 

clmrtcrcd  in  1878,  and  tlie  Mexican  National  in  1880. 
Tlie  first  cliarter  under  tlie  modern  movement  dates 
from  October,  1867;  and  since  tlien  the  Mexican  Govern- 
ment lias  issued  charters  for  over  20,000  miles  of  road, 
with  subsidies  probably  to  the  amount  of  $200,000,000. 
Many  of  these,  with  their  subsidies,  have  lapsed,  of 
course.  The  Government  is  now  held  for  about  15,000 
miles  of  road,  and  sul)sidies  of  $90,000,000. 

The  enterprises  on  a  great  scale  are  all  American,  and 
the  chief  ones  among  them  may  be  estimated  roughly  as 
follows : 

Miles. 

Mexican  Central  (Boston  Company) 2,000 

Mexican  National  (Palmer-Sullivan) 2,000 

Sonora  (Boston  Company) 500 

Mexican  Southern  (General  Grant,  President) 1,000 

Oriental  (De  Grcss  and  Jay  Gould) 1,200 

Topolobambo  (Senator  Windom,  President) 1,200 

International  (Frisbie  and  Pluntington) 1,400 

Pacific  Coast  (Frisbie) 3,000 

Total 12,300 

To  these  may  be  added  the  Sinaloa  and  Durango,  from 
the  city  of  Culiacan  to  the  port  of  Altata,  in  Sinaloa;  the 
Tehuantepec  railway,  and  Captain  Eads's  ship  railway 
across  the  same  isthmus,  to  take  the  place  of  a  ship  canal. 
The  privilege  to  build  an  American  railway  across  Te- 
huantepec, it  may  be  remembered,  was  secured  (at  the 
same  time  with  the  lower  belt  of  Arizona)  by  the  Gads- 
den treaty  of  1853,  supplementary  to  that  of  Guadalupe 
Hidalgo.  The  road  was  supposed  to  be  needed  for  the 
consolidation  of  relations  with  our  then  newly  acquired 
territory  of  California.  The  Pacific  railroad  filled  its 
place,  how^ever,  and  the  project,  taken  up  and  droj^ped 
from  time  to  time,  has  since  had  but  a  lingering  existence. 

Captain   Eads   proposes  to  transport   bodily  ships  of 


THE  FERRO-CARRILES. 


75 


76  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

4000  tons,  190  miles,  bj  land.  He  will  have  twelve 
lines  of  rails,  and  four  locomotives  at  once ;  and,  to  avoid 
jarring  in  transit,  changes  of  direction  will  be  made  by 
a  series  of  turn-tables  instead  of  curves.  The  scheme  is 
a  startling  one,  and  meets  with  no  little  opposition.  It 
is  still  only  on  paper;  but  its  proposer,  who  has  abun- 
dantly vindicated  his  sagacity  in  constructing  the  jetties 
of  the  Mississippi  and  the  great  St.  Louis  bridge,  remains 
firm  in  his  conviction  that  he  will  be  able  to  sail  ships 
across  the  isthmus  on  dry  land. 

III. 

The  several  enterprises  are  succinctly  divided  into  two 
classes — those  on  the  ground,  and  those  on  paper.  It  is 
not  necessarily  a  disparagement  to  the  last  that  they  are 
still  in  such  a  condition,  for  many  of  them  are  of  very 
recent. origin. 

The  original  Mexican  Southern  road  is  to  run  south 
from  Mexico,  by  Puebla  and  Oaxaca  (capital  of  the  pop- 
ulous state  of  the  same  name)  and  the  frontier  of  Gua- 
temala, with  branches  to  the  ports  of  Anton  Lizardo,  on 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  Tehuantepec,  on  the  Pacific.  It 
is  to  connect  also  with  the  Tehuantepec  railway.  It 
relies,  as  a  principal  resource,  upon  the  transport  of  the 
valuable  productions  of  a  rich  tropical  country,  as  cotton, 
sugar,  coffee,  rice,  and  the  like.  Oaxaca  is  an  important 
small  city  of  28,000  people,  birt-hplace  of  General  Por- 
firio  Diaz,  the  Mexican  power  behind  the  throne,  and  un- 
doubtedly the  weightiest  person  in  the  countr3^  The 
route  will  be  a  rugged  one  to  build.  Much  of  the  area 
is  high  and  salubrious.  The  Oaxacan  Indians  are  a  sturdy 
race,  who  have  followed  their  leader,  Diaz,  and  others  in 
many  a  hard-fought  campaign. 


THE  FERRO-CARRILES.  77 

This  coinpai)}^  liowever,  has  latel)^  effected  a  consoli- 
dation with  the  Mexican  Oiiental,  and  botli  will  hence- 
lorth  be  known  nnder  the  name  of  the  Mexican  Southern. 

The  Mexican  Oriental  sets  out  from  Laredo,  on  the 
Texas  frontier,  and  proceeds  to  the  capital  by  way  of 
Victoria,  the  capital  of  the  state  of  Tamaulipas.  It 
claims  to  have  a  bee-line,  and  to  be  200  miles  shorter 
than  any  other.  Its  mission  is  to  occupy  the  district  be- 
tween the  coast  and  the  Mexican  National.  It  throws 
out  a  branch  from  Victoria  to  San  Luis  Potosi ;  and  has 
a  coast-line  connecting  Tuxpan,  Nautla,  and  Vera  Cruz. 
It  is  fed  by  some  12,000  miles  Qf  road  under  control  of 
Jay  Gould  in  the  United  States. 

The  International  is  chartered  to  run  from  Eagle  Pass, 
in  Texas,  to  the  city  of  Mexico,  occupying  a  field  left 
vacant  between  the  Mexican  Central  and  National ;  and 
is  allowed  to  have  also  a  cross-line  to  a  point  between 
Matamoras  and  Tampico,  east,  and  between  Mazatlan  and 
Zihuataneso,  west.  The  theory  of  each,  it  will  be  seen,  is 
to  have  an  interoceanic  line  as  well  as  a  main  line  north 
and  south. 

The  Pacific  Coast  road  covers  the  right  to-  a  vast 
stretch,  beginning  at  a  point  below  Fort  Yuma,  Arizona, 
and  connecting  the  whole  series  of  Pacific  ports  down  to 
Guatemala.  The  Topolobampo  has  also  a  long  extension 
southward,  to  touch  at  some  of  the  same  points. 

The  Topolobampo  route  (Texas,  Topolobampo,  and 
Pacific)  crosses  the  northern  border  states.  It  professes 
to  be  a  shorter  transcontinental  route  to  Australia  and 
Asia  than  any  other  that  can  be  laid  down  on  the  map. 
It  claims  to  have  at  Topolobampo,  just  within  the  Gulf 
of  California,  the  ancient  Sea  of  Cortez,  one  of  the  few 
fine  harbors  of  the  Pacific  coast. 

These    harbors    are    spaced    at   wide    intervals    apart. 


78  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

That  of  the  Columbia  River  of  Oreo^on  is  the  hiijliest 
np.  Then,  600  miles  south,  comes  San  Francisco ;  441  I 
miles  below  this  is  San  Diego;  650  miles  farther  on,  in 
a  direct  line,  or  936,  doubling  Cape  St.  Lucas,  is  Topo- 
lobampo;  and  740  miles  south  of  this  again  is  Acapnlco. 
Between  them  all  there  is  nothing  worthy  the  name  of 
harbor. 

Topolobampo  city,  within  the  confines  of  the  state  of 
Sinaloa,  exists  only  on  paper  as  yet,  but  nothing  is  more 
impressive  in  its  elegant  regularity  and  finish  than  a  pa-  ] 
per  city.  It  claims  to  be  800  miles  nearer  New  York  ' 
than  San  Francisco  by  railroad  travel,  and  that  a  person 
coming  from  Liverpool  to  Sydney,  Australia,  would  save 
600  miles  in  laying  out  a  course  from  Fernandina,  Flor- 
ida, by  New  Orleans  and  Topolobampo,  which  is  indi- 
cated as  a  route  of  the  future.  If  some  of  these  rep- 
resentations be  correct,  no  doubt  it  will  be.  We  live 
in  times  of  a  ruthless  commercial  greed  which  is  stopped 
by  no  sentimental  considerations  of  vested  rights  and 
convenience.  We  have  but  to  see  a  short,  through 
line,  with  possible  economies,  to  build  it  with  all  possible 
despatch. 

The  road  in  question  is  to  start  from  Piedras  Negras, 
on  the  frontier  of  Texas,  and  make  for  Topolobampo, 
across  the  states  of  Coahuila,  Chihuahua,  and  Sonora, 
with  branches  to  Presidio  del  Norte,  also  on  the  Texas 
frontier,  and  to  Alamos,  in  Sonora,  and  the  port  of  Maz- 
atlan,  down  the  coast.  These  routes  pass  near,  and 
would  greatly  facilitate  operations  in  some  of  the  large 
silver-mining  districts,  of  late  entered  with  success  by 
American  capital  and  immigration.  The  reports  of  its 
surveys  chronicle  an  engaging  prospect  in  various  other 
ways.  It  passes  from  belts  of  tropical  products  to  those 
of  white  pine,  oak,  and  cedar,  and  others  fitted  for  cereals, 


THE  FEKR0-CARRILE8.  79 

grass,  and  cotton,  witli  a  rich  iron  mountain,  and  deposits 
of  copper  as  well  as  silver. 

The  maxim  is  laid  down  that  a  railroad  pays,  in  local 
traffic,  in  proportion  as  one  section  of  its  line  supplies 
what  another  lacks.  If  the  situation  be  as  represented, 
Topolobampo  seems  provided  with  most  of  the  essential 
conditions  of  success. 


80  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


VII. 

THE  RAILWAYS  AT  WORK. 

I. 

The  Sonora  road  is  already  built,  and  in  operation  as 
I  write.  It  is  a  stretch  of  three  hundred  miles,  from 
the  Arizona  frontier,  to  the  port  of  Guajmas,  near  the 
centre  of  the  shore  line  of  the  Gulf  of  California.  Its 
United  States  connection  is  by  a  branch  of  the  Atchison, 
Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe,  from  Benson,  through  Calabasas, 
to  the  border  at  Nogales ;  and  another  is  proposed,  from 
the  Southern  Pacific  at  Tucson.  Tlie  management  of  this 
enterprise,  as  well  as  of  the  Great  Mexican  Central,  is 
practically  that  of  tlie  Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe. 

Its  course  is  across  the  state  of  Sonora.  It  abolishes 
the  old  system  of  ox-train  transportation  and  the  dusty 
stage-line  from  Tucson.  It  will  be  found  fault  with, 
among  others,  by  the  savage  Apaches,  whose  refuge 
Northern  Mexico  has  so  long  been.  Their  depredations, 
with  their  territory  penetrated  by  railroads,  must  soon 
come  to  an  end  once  for  all.  The  other  Indians  of  the 
state — Yaquis,  Mayos,  and  Opatas  —  are  docile,  and  a 
principal  reliance  for  cheap  labor.  The  road  taps  mines, 
and,  by  means  of  a  branch,  what  is  even  more  important 
for  Mexico,  the  valuable  Santa  Clara  coal-fields.  It  has 
the  little  city  of  Ilermosillo,  with  its  plantations,  irrigated 
by  aqueducts,  in  its  course;  and  its  port  of  Guaymas  is 
commodious  and  sheltered. 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT   WORK.  81 


II. 


I  have  purposely  reserved  to  the  hist — the  better,  per- 
Imps,  to  present  them  to  view — tlic  two  gi'cat  tniiik  lines 
of  principal  importance,  the  Mexican  Central  and  tlie 
Mexican  National.  These  two  represent  the  bulk  of  the 
entire  movement  as  it  is  at  present.  Neither  had  many 
miles  in  actual  operation  during  my  stay;  but  the  works, 
railway  stations,  city  offices,  and  army  of  employes  of 
both,  were  constantly  in  sight  at  the  capital,  and  were 
tlie  principal  evidences  by  which  the  manner  of  the  rail- 
way invasion  of  Mexico  could  be  judged. 

Energy  of  movement,  ingenuity  in  planning,  and  an 
;ihnost  limitless  expenditure,  all  indicated  here  conscien- 
tious work,  and  not  simply  railroad  building  on  paper. 

The  Central  begins  at  El  Paso,  the  terminus  of  the 
Atchison,  Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe,  as  well  as  a  station  on 
tlie  Southern  Pacific,  at  the  frontier  of  New  Mexico. 
It  extends  to  the  capital,  a  distance  of  thirteen  hundred 
miles,  tap])ing  on  the  way  a  long  series  of  the  leading 
cities  of  the  republic,  most  of  these  as  well  capitals  of 
states.  It  has  also  a  great  interoceanic  cross-line,  which 
is  to  pass  from  the  port  of  Tampico,  on  the  Gulf  of  Mex- 
ico, through  the  cities  of  San  Luis  Potosi,  Lagos  (the 
junction  with  the  main  line),  and  Guadabijara,  to  San 
r>his,  on  the  Pacific.  It  is  expected  that  the  main  line 
will  be  completed  about  July,  1884. 

The  first  reached  in  the  chain  of  leading  cities  is  Chi- 
huahua, with  about  eighteen  thousand  inhabitants.  The 
line  is  already  running  to  this  point,  and  is  completed  in 
all  three  hundred  and  thii'ty-one  miles  southward  from 
Paso  del  Norte.     The  visitor  bj^  rail  may  already  have 

in  Chihuahua  a  glimpse  of  a  place  presenting  most  of  the 

4* 


82  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

typical  Mexican  features.  It  lias  Aztec  remains,  and  a 
large  cathedral,  built  out  of  a  percentage  of  the  proceeds 
of  a  silver-mine  in  bonanza.  It  is  the  scene  where  the 
patriot  Hidalgo,  who  first  raised  the  standard  of  insurrec- 
tion against  Spanish  rule,  was  shot,  having  been  treacher- 
ously beti'ajed  by  his  friends.  This  story  is,  unhappily, 
of  but  too  frequent  repetition  in  Mexican  annals. 

Durango,  three  hundred  miles  farther,  has  twenty- 
eight  thousand  people.  It  has  been  spoken  of  as  the  Ul- 
tima Thide  of  civilized  Mexico,  the  barren  plains  to  the 
north— which  are,  indeed,  very  common  in  all  these  up- 
permost states  —  not  having  been  considered  worthy  to 
be  included  with  the  country  below.  There  are  places 
where  water  is  not  to  be  had  for  two  and  three  days  at  a 
time,  but  must  be  carried  by  the  traveller.  The  inhabi- 
tants have  had  to  depend  considerably  upon  themselves 
for  defence,  as  is  seen  in  the  occasional  fort-like  hacien- 
das, with  walls  turreted  and  pierced  for  musketry. 

Zacatecas,  moving  onward  now  into  a  country  of  rec- 
ognized civilization,  has  62,000  people ;  San  Luis  Potosi, 
45,000 ;  Aguas  Calientes,  35,000 ;  Lagos,  25,000 ;  Leon, 
100,000 ;  handsome  Guanajuato,  capital  of  the  state 
which  is  the  richest  of  the  whole  interior,  63,000;  Ce- 
laya,  30,000;  Silao,  38,000 ;  Irapuato,  21,000;  Salamanca, 
20,000 ;  and  luxurious  Guadalajara,  94,000. 

The  mining  of  the  precious  metals  is  a  leading  indus- 
try over  all  the  area  thus  described,  which  abounds  also 
in  the  agricultural  products  of  a  gentle  and  temperate 
climate.  The  railroad  is  now  running  northward  from 
the  city  of  Mexico  to  Lagos,  and  is  completed  for  three 
hundred  and  thirty-four  miles  from  this  lower  end. 

Lastly  in  the  chain  of  cities  may  be.  mentioned  Quere- 
taro,  which  has  a  population  of  48,000.  It  is  the  site  of 
flourishing  cotton-mills,  an  aqueduct  which  is  compared 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT   WORK.  83 

with  the  works  of  the  Romans,  and  it  saw  the  final  re- 
sistance and  execution  of  Maximilian.  Mexico  itself  has 
250,000  inhabitants.  I  have  summed  up  here  nearly  a 
million  of  people;  and  it  would  seem  that  a  railroad 
along  the  line  of  which  are  scattered  such  communities 
as  these,  grown  to  their  present  dimensions  without  even 
tolerable  means  of  approach,  need  not  lack  for  support. 

True,  large  numbers  of  the  people  are  Indians  and 
very  poor;  but  I  point  to  the  example  of  Don  Benito 
Juarez,  the  liberator  of  his  country  from  the  French,  an 
Indian  of  the  purest  blood,  and  to  numerous  others  acces- 
sible on  every  hand,  to  show  that  there  is  nothing  inher- 
ent in  the  race  itself  to  debar  it  from  the  highest  devel- 
opment with  increase  of  opportunities.  And  if  any  sup- 
pose that  they  do  not  like  to  travel,  let  him  simply  in- 
spect the  excursion  trains  where  third-class  cars  are  sup- 
plied to  them  in  sufficient  numbers. 

III. 

I  made  the  trip  over  the  section  of  the  Central  to  the 
small  city  of  Tula.  Its  principal  feature  is  the  passage 
through  the  great  Spanish  drainage  cut,  along  one  side  of 
which  it  has  been  allowed  to  terrace  its  track.  This  cnt — 
the  Tajo  of  Nochistongo,  before  mentioned,  designed  for 
keeping  the  lakes  from  inundating  the  valley — was  be- 
gun under  the  viceroys  as  far  back  as  1607,  and  continued 
for  a  couple  of  hundred  years.  Such  mammoth  earth- 
cutting — a  ditch  twelve  miles  long,  a  couple  of  hundred 
feet  deep,  and  three  hundred  and  sixty  wide — was  never 
seen  elsewhere  in  the  world ;  and  it  is  said  to  have  cost 
the  lives  of  seventy  thousand  pemis,  or  Indian  laborers, 
in  the  course  of  construction.  Wliy  this  should  have 
been,  and  how  they  died  —  whether  by  slipping  in  and 


84:  OLT)   MEXICO  AXD  HER   LOST  rROVINCES. 

beiiii^  buried,  or  utider  the  exactions  of  cruel  taskmasters, 
and  whether  those  who  passed  away  simply  of  old  age 
(for  which  it  will  be  seen  there  was  ample  time)  are  in- 
cluded— does  iiot  appear, 

I  went  partly  by  construction  train,  dining  in  their  car 
with  a  group  of  jolly  young  engineers,  and  partly  on 
horseback  over  the  terre-plaine  (the  graded  road-bed), 
which  makes  an  excellent  surface  for  riding.  The  peons, 
swarming  on  the  woi'k,  in  white  cotton  shirts  and  di'awers, 
have  reddish  skins,  bristly  black  hair,  and  a  sudden,  wild- 
eyed  way  of  addressing  you.  They  have  an  analogy  to 
the  Chinese  type.  They  got  at  this  time  two  and  a  half 
reals  (thirty-one  cents)  a  day.  They  are  very  suspicious, 
and  have  absolutely  no  idea  of  trust,  or  waiting  over  the 
appointed  time.  Dangerous  strikes  have  resulted  from 
some  slight  putting  off  of  the  pay-day,  which  usually 
takes  place  once  a  week.  In  other  respects  they  are 
very  tractable. 

There  were  said  to  be  thirty  thousand  of  them  at  work 
on  railroads  at  this  date.  The  rate  of  wages,  so  favor- 
able to  the  contractors  at  first,  has  been  gi-adually  rising 
under  the  active  demand  in  the  mean  time,  and  I  have 
heard,  since  my  return,  of  a  strike  on  one  of  the  northern 
roads  for  as  high  as  $1  a  day.  They  buy  gay  clothes  for 
Sunday,  and  pulque,  and  save  nothing.  Many  will  not 
even  work  steadily.  Two  such  form  a  partnership  to 
take  a  single  place,  and  one  works  half  the  week  and 
the  other  the  rest.  There  were  some  who  walked  all  Sat- 
urday night  to  spend  Sundaj^  at  Qiieretaro,  and  returned 
Monday  morning.  On  the  haciendas  they  are  generally 
in  debt,  and  as  thej^  cannot  leave  when  in  debt,  they  are 
so  far  attached  to  the  land,  like  serfs.  Each  gang  has  a 
Cabo  (or  head),  who  is  simply  an  enterprising  one  of 
themselves,  and  gets  an  allowance  of  two  cents  extra  for 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT   WO  UK. 


85 


TUK    GRKAT    SPANISH    DKAINAGE    CUT. 


each  mail  he  controls. 
The  Cabo  is  a  i^reat 
man  amoiii^  tlie  railway 
laborers,  and  oat  of 
cabos  arise  the  Benito 
Juarezes,  and  hopes  in- 
definite for  the  evolu- 
tion of  the  race. 

I  spent  the  night  at  Tula.  It  was  the  capital  of  tlie 
Toltecs  before  the  day  of  the  Aztecs.  I  climbed  tlie  Hill 
of  the  Treasure,  to  inspect  some  ruins  over  wliich  archas- 
ologists  have  made  a  stir.  Tliere  are  no  sculptures  nor 
carved  stones,  nothing  but  some  opened  cellars  and  heavy 
walls,  with  patches  of  a  red  plaster,  as  at  Pompeii,  ad- 
hering to  them.     But  we  stayed  our  horses,  and  looked 


86  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

down,  from  a  tliicket  of  organ-cactus  and  nopal,  npon  a 
lovely  sunset  over  the  valley  of  Tula.  It  is  a  little 
pocket  of  fertility  in  the  hills,  and  it  does  not  seem  at 
all  wonderful  that  the  Toltecs  stopped  there  in  their 
migrations  southward. 

My  mozo  pointed  out  a  ruin  in  the  thick  woods,  which 
he  declared  was  Toltec,  knowing  that  to  be  what  I  was  in 
search  of.  It  was  picturesque  enough,  its  w^alls  having 
been  split  by  an  irrepressible  vegetable  growth  ;  but  it 
had  the  same  style  of  battlements  (a  kind  of  Spanish 
horn  of  dominion)  as  the  fortress-like  church  in  the  town, 
dating  from  1553,  and  was  much  more  modern. 

I  went  into  this  cool  old  church — vast  enough  for  a 
cathedral — next  day,  when  the  temperature  was  warm 
without.  It  was  entirely  vacant.  Fatigued  with  my 
journeying,  I  sat  on  a  comfortable  old  wooden  bench, 
and  dozed  till  awakened  sharply  by  the  striking  of  a 
little  cuckoo-clock.  I  seem  to  have  dreamed  that  the 
numerous  quaint  figures  of  saints,  in  dresses  made  of 
actual  stuffs,  had  somehow^  an  every-day  existence  there, 
in  addition  to  their  sacred  character,  and  that  they  were 
taking  notice  of  the  intruder,  and  offering  audible  com- 
ments. This  is  one  of  the  ways,  I  suppose,  in  which  very 
good  miracles  have  been  wrought  before  now. 

For  the  rest,  the  place  consisted  of  a  plaza,  with  two 
or  three  pulque-shops ;  a  shop  of  general  traps,  with  the 
ambitious  title  of  "  Los  Leones ;"  a  hotica  (or  drug-shop), 
kept  by  OTie  Perfecto  Espinoza ;  a  Hotel  de  las  Diligen- 
cias;  and  a  little  jail,  at  one  corner  of  the  plaza,  where 
a  couple  of  soldiers  walked  up  and  down,  and  the  pris- 
oners peeped  out  through  a  large  wooden,  grated  door. 

And  there  was  a  good  restaurant,  kept  by  a  little 
Frenchman,  who  moved  on  with  it  from  time  to  time  to 
the  head  of  the  line. 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT  WORK.  87 

IV. 

Tlie  Mexican  National,  or  "  raliner-Sullivan,"  road  is 
due  to  the  same  enterprise  which  establislied  the  success- 
fid  Denver  and  Rio  Grande  system  in  Colorado  and  New 
Mexico.  It  is,  like  that,  a  narrow  gange,  instead  of  a 
standard  gauge,  line,  and  a  connection  is  to  be  ultimately 
established  between  the  two.  In  some  respects  it  may 
claim  to  be  the  pioneer  in  the  modern  movement,  since 
its  agent  in  Mexico,  James  Sullivan,  had  obtained  a 
charter  and  begun  to  raise  money  in  1872,  but  was  stop- 
ped in  his  project  by  the  panic  of  the  following  year.  . 

The  National  takes  a  much  shorter  line  to  the  capital 
than  the  Central,  say  eight  hundred  miles,  as  against 
thirteen  hundred.  Its  initial  point  is  Laredo,  on  the 
Texas  frontier.  It  is  running  already  into  Monterey, 
the  capital  of  Nuevo  Leon,  and  built  below  Saltillo. 
Of  the  charms  of  the  little  city  of  Monterey,  which  has 
medicinal  springs  beside  it,  travellers  begin  to  speak  in 
the  warmest  terms.  It  touches  San  Luis  Potosi  and  Ce- 
laya  as  well  as  the  Central,  and  has  along  or  near  its 
course  other  cities,  well  peopled,  though  less  known  to 
fame,  as  Matchuala,  the  population  of  which  is  25,000. 
Its  eastern  port  is  Corpus  Christi,  Texas,  though  it  will 
have  a  branch  also  to  Matamoras.  Its  westward  ex- 
tension (only  less  important  than  the  main  line)  winds 
round  about,  through  the  cities  of  Toluca,  Maravatio, 
Morelia,  Guadalajara,  and  Colima,  down  to  the  port  of 
Manzanillo. 

Four  of  these  are  capitals,  and  all  are  populous,  and 
have  wide,  well-paved  streets  and  handsome  buildings, 
public  and  private.  Toluca,  at  a  great  height,  8825  feet, 
above  the  sea,  is  often  afflicted  by  a  rather  frigid  tern- 


88  OLD  MEXICO  A XI)   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

perature;  Colima  is  distiuetlj'  in  the  tropics;  but  Mo- 
relia  affords  tlic  happy  medium,  and  its  whole  state  of 
Michoacan  has  charms  upon  which  the  appreciative  never 
iiave  done  expatiating.  Humboldt  speaks  of  the  lake 
found  at  Patzcuaro  as  one  of  the  loveliest  on  the  jjlobe. 
Madame  Calderon  de  la  Barca,  in  her  journey  liere,  could 
hardly  refrain  from  regretting  the  lavishing  by  Natui-e 
of  what  seemed  (so  few  were  there  then  to  enjoy  it) 
almost  a  wasted  beaut3\  "We  are  startled,"  she  says, 
"by  the  conviction  that  this  enchanting  variety  of  hill 
and  plain,  wood  and  water,  is  for  the  most  part  unseen 
by  human  eye  and  untrod  by  human  footstep." 

The  route  winds,  too,  on  its  way  to  Guadalajara, 
around  the  great  lake  of  Ciiapala.  Truly,  it  seems  they 
are  to  be  happy  travellers,  those  of  the  immediate  future, 
to  whom  the  simple  device  of  the  railway  is  to  open  up 
so  much  of  the  wildness  and  loveliness  of  nature,  com- 
bined with  the  quaintness  of  an  old  Spanish  civilization. 
We  are  apt  to  forget,  in  our  preconceived  impressions, 
what  an  important  part  Old  Spain  played  in  the  country 
during  three  hundred  3'ears,  what  treasures  she  spent 
there.  She  had  made  a  beginning  of  some  of  these  solid, 
regular  cities,  which  surprise  one  like  enchantment  on 
emerging  upon  tliem  from  forests  and  wastes,  a  hundred 
years  before  the  Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  Rock. 
Very  little,  in  fact,  has  been  added  to  what  the  Spanish 
donunation  left.  The  modern  movement,  since  1821,  is 
to  be  credited  with  very  little  in  the  way  of  new  build- 
ings. Such  compliments  as  are  paid  in  the  course  of  these 
descriptions  to  the  architecture  belong  chiefly  to  that  re- 
maining from  a  much  earlier  date.  The  reputation  of  the 
I'l'lMiblic  is  still  to  be  made  in  all  such  matters  when  it 
shall  have  outgrown  the  ample  legacies  bequeathed  it,  and 
have  need  of  farther  accommodations  peculiarly  its  own. 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT  WORK.  89 


In  all,  the  National  has  completed  four  hundred  and 
sixty  miles.  It  is  said  of  late  to  have  been  sold  to  an 
I'^nglish  compan3\  We  need  not  forego  our  American 
l>i'ide  in  its  early  achiev^enients,  even  if  this  be  so.  Per- 
liaps  such  a  transfer  might  be  of  benefit,  in  allaying  the 
di'ead  of  an  overweening  American  influence. 

It  was  not  done  even  to  Toluca  in  my  time.  It  has  to 
face  its  most  arduous  engineering  difficulties  at  the  very 
beginning,  and  fortunately  goes  far  more  smoothly  after- 
ward. No  less  than  seventeen  bridges,  of  solid  construc- 
tion, had  to  be  thrown  across  the  little  stream  of  the 
Kio  Hondo  in  two  or  three  miles  of  its  course. 

A  pay-train  on  horseback  started  out  from  the  central 
office  every  Saturday,  to  convoy  the  silver  coin  for  the 
wages  of  the  army  of  hands  employed  on  the  first  section 
of  twenty  miles. 

"  Ride  with  us !"  its  members  often  hospitably  urged, 
and  I  more  than  once  accepted  the  invitation. 

It  is  an  all-day  adventure,  and  a  fatiguing  one.  Be- 
liold  us  at  early  morning  clattering  out  of  the  court-yard 
to  ride  up  into  the  fastnesses  of  the  mountains,  a  curious 
cavalcade.  The  treasure  is  packed  upon  the  backs  of  a 
dozen  mules,  whicli  are  placed  in  the  centre.  A  troop  of 
Hurales  (the  efficient  force  orgatiized  by  Porfirio  Diaz 
for  the  better  protection  of  the  rui-al  districts)  takes  the 
van.  A  numerous  retinue  of  armed  mozos  of  the  com- 
pany, with  ourselves,  bring  up  tlie  rear.  The  young 
engineers,  paymasters,  and  contractors,  well  mounted, 
with  long  boots  and  revolvers,  present  a  handsome,  half- 
military  aspect. 

"We  hav'e  presently  lost  sight  of  the  city,  and  are  upon 


90  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PEOVINCES. 

hiffh  rolliiio:  barrens,  where  the  surface  is  volcanic  and 
rent  into  an  infinity  of  seams,  and  the  only  vegetation  is 
that  of  nopal,  or  prickly-pear,  as  large  as  apple-trees  with 
us.  Here  and  there  a  cluster  of  white  tents  is  seen  at  a 
distance,  and  cotton-clad  peons  delving  in  gulch  or  on 
mountain -side  are  like  some  strange  species  of  white 
insects. 

The  whole  expedition  wears  a  most  un-nineteenth- 
century  air.  We  might  be  some  band  of  marauders  re- 
turned from  an  ancient  fora)'.  Tlie  Rurales  have  some- 
thing in  their  cut — tiie  buff  leather  jackets,  crossed  by 
ample  sword-belts,  and  wide,  gray  felt  hats — of  the  troop- 
ers of  Cromwell.  Each  has  a  rifle  in  his  holster  at  the 
saddle-bow,  and  a  gray-and-scarlet  blanket  strapped  be- 
liind  him.  Nothing  could  be  more  spirited,  in  color, 
than  these  costumes,  dismounted  beside  a  cactus-tree,  or 
thrown  out  against  the  blue  of  distant  mountains.  On 
the  harness  of  some  of  the  mules  are  embroidered  in 
red  and  blue  tlieir  names,  or  that  of  some  hacienda,  as 
"  Santa  Lucia,"  to  whicli  they  have  belonged. 

It  is  understood  that  an  individual  with  a  crimson 
handkerchief  around  the  back  of  his  head,  under  his  sil- 
ver-bordered sombrero,  is  the  titular  cacique  of  San  Bar- 
tolito  by  descent  from  ancient  chiefs.  He  precedes  us, 
being  employed  by  the  company  to  look  out  for  plots 
and  ambuscades.  AViien  we  have  passed  what  he  con- 
siders the  dangerous  points — these  are  generally  in  the 
neighborhood  of  elevations,  whence  an  intending  bandit 
could  spy  the  road  for  a  distance  in  both  directions,  and 
where  are  ravines  on  either  side  for  concealment  and 
escape — he  rejoins  the  troop,  and  converses  upon  the 
propriety  of  his  receiving  more  salary  for  his  arduous 
duties.  No  molestation  has  ever  yet  been  offered  these 
caravans,  and  there  is  hardly  likely  to  be.     From  a  con- 


I 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT   WORK. 


91 


92  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

siderable  experience  in  remote  parts  of  Mexico  I  am 
satisfied  that,  however  prudent  ample  precautions  may 
be  in  exceptional  cases  like  this,  the  ordinary  traveller 
runs  little  if  any  more  danger  of  robbery  than  at  home. 

At  the  pay-stations  we  breast  our  way  through  crowds 
of  the  peons  so  thick  that  the  horses  can  hardly  be  pre- 
vented from  trampling  upon  them,  always  with  their 
narrow  foreheads,  bristling  hair,  staring,  wild  ej^es,  and 
large,  undecided  mouths.  Their  money  is  jingled  out  to 
tliem  through  a  pay-window  into  their  shabby  soiubreros. 
Venders  of  small  commodities  aud  pulque  wait  for  them, 
and  profit  by  the  new  supply  of  funds. 

At  these  stations  the  engineers  lead  a  kind  of  barrack 
life.  The  interior  contains  some  beds,  a  dining-table,  and 
a  safe;  outside  is  a  storehouse  of  picks,  shovels,  and  bar- 
rows. Whetlier  here,  in  their  construction-car,  or  tents, 
they  extend  the  stranger  a  cheerj'  hospitality.  They  are 
hearty,  robust  fellows — "  not  here  for  their  health,"  as 
their  saying  is.  Many  of  them  have  seen  service  in  war 
and  in  other  climes,  and  their  company  is  both  amusing 
and  instructive. 

VI. 

The  right  of  way  usually  given  in  all  the  concessions 
is  for  a  width  of  two  hundred  and  thirty  feet.  Material 
and  supplies  for  the  road,  and  connected  telegraph  line, 
are  exempted  from  duty  generally  for  the  period  of 
twenty  years.  Neither  the  concession,  property,  nor 
shares  can  be  alienated  to  any  foreign  government,  nor 
can  a  foreign  government  be  admitted  as  a  shareholder. 
The  fear  of  foreign  domination  crops  out  everywhere  in 
Mexican  legislation ;  and  perhaps  the  weakness  of  the 
nation,  and  the  sad  experience  of  its  seizure  by  Napoleon 
on  the  pretext  of  debt,  are   sufficient  excuse  for   such 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT  WORK. 


93 


nervousness.  At  any  rate,  all  companies  organized  un- 
der its  charters  agree  to  be  strictly  Mexican,  and  to 
renounce  all  rights  and  exemptions  as  foreigners. 


There  is  no  great  vacant  public 
domain,  as  with  us,  and  the  Gov- 
ernment has  not  aided  the  new 
enterprises  with  land  grants.  Up 
to  a  recent  period,  however,  it  has 
attached  to  each  concession  a  cash 
subsidy  of  $10,000  to  $15,000  a 
mile.  Both  the  Central  and  Na- 
tional are  thus  subsidized.  In  order  that  the  burden 
may  not  fall  too  heavily  upon  an  exchequer  always  weak, 
the  payments  are  made  to  depend  upon  the  pledge  of  six 
per  cent,  in  the  one  case,  and  four  in  the  other,  of  re- 
ceipts at  the  custom-houses.     Certificates  for  the  several 


NOT    HERE    FOR    THEIR 
HEALTH." 


94  OLD  MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

amounts  as  they  become  due  are  issued  to  the  companies, 
which  must  wait  for  collection  till  tliere  are  funds  to 
meet  them. 

The  latest  plan,  affecting  most  of  the  great  schemes 
still  chiefly  on  paper,  gives  no  subsidy  with  the  charter, 
but  gives,  instead,  certain  privileges  to  atone  for  its  ab- 
sence. A  less  strict  accountability  to  Government,  with 
a  much  higher  tariff  of  charges,  is  permitted.  It  has 
been  questioned  by  some  whether  under  these  conditions 
a  charter  without  the  subsidy  is  not  better  than  with  it. 
It  is  to  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  so  far  as  the  matter 
of  the  higher  rates  is  concerned,  that  between  compet- 
ing points  the  company  which  can  afford  to  run  at  the 
cheapest  rates  gets  the  business.  If  but  a  tithe  of  the 
railroads  now  covering  the  map  like  a  net-work  be  built, 
there  need  be  no  fear  of  the  lack  of  a  lively  competition. 

The  stocks  and  bonds  of  railroads  are  not  bought  on 
the  word  of  a  desultory  traveller  mainly  in  search  of  the 
picturesque — though  I  will  admit,  too,  that  they  are  often 
bought  upon  less.  I  am  not  afraid,  therefore,  to  express 
a  certain  enthusiasm  about  \\\q  ferro-carriles  of  Mexico, 
which  are  in  everybody's  mouth.  It  is  the  railways 
which  have  made  the  modern  world  elsewhere  what  it 
is,  and  why  should  they  fail  of  the  usual  effect  here  ? 

They  may  be  overdone,  and  there  may  be  panics  and 
shrinkages,  such  as  have  occurred  elsewhere,  though  this 
is  not  extremely  probable,  owing  to  the  reasons  for  wari- 
ness which  lie  very  much  on  the  surface.  The  conditions 
to  be  conformed  to  must  not  be  sought  in  a  parallel  situ- 
ation of  things  in  the  United  States,  but  rather  in  such 
countries,  perhaps,  as  Russia  and  India,  with  a  large 
peasant  population  to  be  developed,  instead  of  a  new 
population  to  be  created.  We  have  built  railroads  in 
advance  of  settlement,  and  depended  upon  immigration 


THE  RAILWAYS  AT  WORK.  95 

to  fill  up  in  their  wake.  Mexico  has  but  an  infinitesimal 
immigration,  and  presents  no  great  inducements  to  it  at 
present.  It  must  depend  upon  the  local  carrying  trade 
and  natural  development  of  the  industries  and  commerce 
of  the  country.  It  has  a  population  per  square  mile  but 
little  less  than  that  of  the  United  States.  These  are 
of  a  natural  intelligence,  and  capable  of  the  stimulus  of 
ambition  when  opportunities  are  opened.  They  are  to 
be  encouraged  to  be  no  longer  satisfied  with  a  bare  sub- 
sistence for  themselves,  but  to  produce  from  their  fertile 
lands  a  surplus,  for  which  a  market  is  now  opened.  They 
are  to  trade  upon  it  and  become  amassers  of  wealth. 

No  less  than  10,000  miles  of  railwaj^s  are  spread  over 
what  were  once  the  old  Mexican  provinces  of  Califor- 
nia, Arizona,  New  Mexico,  Colorado,  Wyoming,  Nevada, 
Utah,  and  Texas.  Railways  have  brought  these  out  of 
the  nothingness  in  which  they  recently  lay  so  vast  and 
desolate.  \¥hat  must  they  not  inevitably  do  at  last  for 
Old  Mexico  itself,  so  fully  peopled,  and  scattered  with 
centres  of  trade  and  of  the  arts  of  civilized  life  ? 


1 


96  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PliOVIXCES. 


VIII. 

THE  QUESTION  OF  MONEY,  AND  SHOPPING. 


It  is  perhaps  thought  that  the  work  of  improvement  ig 
to  be  eiiected  entirely  from  without,  the  Mexican  himself 
remaining  passive,  and  allowing  everything  to  be  done 
for  him.  The  view  is  supported  by  the  extent  to  which 
the  business  of  the  country  is  already  in  the  hands  of  for- 
eigners. The  bankers  and  manufacturers  are  English. 
The  Germans  control  hardware  and  "fancy  goods." 
French  and  Italians  keep  the  hotels  and  restaurants; 
Spaniards  the  small  groceries  and  pawn-shops,  and  deal 
in  the  products  of  the  country.  These  latter  have  a  re- 
pute for  somewhat  Jewish  style  of  thrift.  They  are 
enterprising  as  administrators  of  haciendas,  and  often 
marry  the  proprietors'  daughters,  and  possess  themselves 
on  their  own  account  of  the  properties  to  which  they  were 
sent  as  agents.  Whether  it  be  due  to  such  rivalry  or 
not,  it  is  to  be  noted  that  there  are  few  Jews  in  Mexico. 
Finally,  the  Americans  build  the  railroads. 

The  Mexican  proper  is  a  retail  trader,  an  employe, 
or,  if  rich,  draws  his  revenues  from  haciendas,  which  in 
many  cases  he  never  sees,  and  where  his  money  is  made 
for  him.  These  are  on  an  enormous  scale.  The  chief 
part  of  the  land  is  comprised  in  great  estates,  on  which 
the  peasants  live  in  a  semi-serfdom.  Small  farms  are 
scarcely  known.     For  his  fine  hacienda  in  the   state  of 


THE  QUESTION  OF  MONEY,  AND  SHOPPING.         97 

Oaxaca  ex-President  Diaz  is  said  to  have  paid  over  a 
million  of  dollars ;  on  another  the  appliances  alone  cost  a 
million.  The  revenues  of  Mexican  proprietors  have  been 
heretofore  devoted  to  the  purchase  of  more  real  estate, 
or  loaned  out  at  interest;  at  any  rate,  "salted  down"  in 
some  such  way  as  to  be  of  little  avail  in  setting  the 
wheels  of  industry  in  motion. 

Before  adopting,  however,  the  conventional  view  that 
this  state  of  things  is  due  to  inferiority  of  race  or  ener- 
vating climate,  considerations  on  the  other  side  are  to  be 
looked  at.  In  the  first  place  is  the  revolutionary  condi- 
tion of  the  country,  which  until  a  recent  date  subjected 
the  citizen  who  ventured  to  place  his  property  beyond 
his  immediate  recall  to  a  thousand  embarrassments  from 
uiie  or  another  of  the  contending  parties.  Such  immuni- 
ties and  advantages  as  there  were,  were  enjoyed  by  for- 
eigners alone,  under  the  protection  of  their  diplomatic 
representatives. 

Again,  there  have  been  peculiar  inequalities  of  fortune, 
coming  down  from  the  old  Spanish  monarchical  times. 
There  has  been  at  one  extreme  of  society  a  class  too  ab- 
ject, and  at  the  other,  one  in  too  leisurely  circumstances, 
to  greatly  aspire  to  farther  improvement,  and  the  middle 
class  has  been  of  slow  formation.  The  difficulties  in 
the  way  of  travel  and  communication  with  foreign  parts 
for  the  middle  class,  from  the  bosom  of  w^iich  Unancial 
success  chiefly  springs,  have  been  of  a  repressive  sort. 

The  climate,  of  the  central  table-land  at  least,  must  not 
be  considered  enervating.  One  must  lay  his  ideas  of 
climate,  as  depending  upon  latitude,  aside,  and  compre- 
hend that  here  it  is  a  matter  of  elevation  above  the  sea. 
Individual  Mexicans  are  to  be  met  with  who,  under  the 
stimulus  of  the  new  feeling  of  security,  have  embarked 
their  capital,  put  plenty  of  irons  in  the  fire,  and  appear  to 

5 


h 

98  OLIf  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

handle  them  witli  skill.  The  street  railways  of  the  capi- 
tal, an  extensive  and  excellent  system,  are  under  native 
management  exclusively.  It  is  as  successful  in  mining. 
It  was  only  when  the  great  Keal  del  Monte  Company  at 
Pachuca,  formerly  English,  passed  into  Mexican  hands 
that  its  mines  became  profitable. 

I  should  be  strongly  of  the  opinion  that  the  backward- 
ness of  the  Mexican  is  not  the  result  of  a  native  incapac- 
ity or  lack  of  appetite  for  gain,  but  chiefly  of  the  physical 
conformation  of  the  country.  The  mule-path  is  traced 
like  a  vast  hieroglyphic  over  the  face  of  it,  and  in  this  is 
read  the  secret — lack  of  transportation. 

But  the  zealous  advocate  of  race  and  "Northern  en- 
ergy "  objects :  "  How  long  is  it  since  we  had  no  railroads 
ourselves?  And  yet  did  we  not  reach  a  very  pretty  de- 
gree of  civilization  without  them?" 

But  Mexico  not  only  had  no  railways,  but  not  even 
rivers  nor  ports.  It  was  waterways  which  made  the  pros- 
perity of  nations  before  the  day  of  steam.  It  is  hardly 
credible,  the  completeness  of  the  deprivations  to  which 
this  interesting  country  has  been  so  long  subjected.  The 
wonder  is,  to  any  experienced  in  the  diligence  travel,  and 
the  dreary  slowness  of  the  journeys,  at  a  foot-pace,  by 
beasts  of  burden,  not  that  so  little,  but  so  very  much,  has 
been  done.  On  the  trail  to  the  coast  at  Acapulco,  for 
instance — in  popular  phrase  a  mere  camino  de  pdjaros 
(road  for  birds) — have  grown  up  some  charming  towns, 
like  Iguala,  the  scene  of  the  Emperor  Iturbide's  famous 
Plan,  which,  it  seems  to  me,  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  would 
hardly  ever  have  originated  under  such  circumstances. 

Commerce  and  trade  in  such  a  land  naturally  have  their 
peculiar  aspects.  There  is,  in  the  first  place,  the  compli- 
cated tariff,  already  referred  to.  Americans  should  not 
let  a  new-born  enthusiasm  for  a  promising  market  hurry 


THE  QUESTION  OF  MONEY,  AND  SHOri'INU.         99 


MODERN    SHOI'-FKONTS    AT    MEXICO. 


them  into  consignments  without  a  thorough  understand- 
ing of  the  premises.  As  to  engaging  in  undertakings  in 
the  country  itself,  one  who  had  done  so  held  that  the 
new-comer  should  make  his  residence  there  for  six  months 
or  a  year,  and  first  acquaint  himself  with  the  people,  their 
customs,  and  language. 

"Better  make  it  two  years,  on  the  whole,"  he  said, 
reflectively,  "and  then  he  will  go  home  again  and  let  it 
alone  altogether." 

Without  sharing  this  saturnine  view,  the  importance 
of  some  preliminary  acquaintance  cannot  be  too  strongly 
insisted  upon.  The  great  inertia  of  customs  and  ways 
of  looking  at  things  so  different  from  our  own  is  appre- 
ciated more  and  more  as  time  a"oes  on. 


100         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

The  most  promising  openings  at  present  would  seem 
to  be,  for  capital,  to  work  up  into  manufactures  the  raw 
material  with  which  the  country  abounds.  These  oppor-  ; 
tunities  will  increase  with  the  growth  of  transportation.  ' 
Labor  is  cheap.  The  peons  have  little  inventive  but  suf- 
ficient imitative  talent,  and  make  excellent  mill-hands. 
Thej  work  for  twenty -live  and  thirty-seven  cents  a  day, 
and  have  no  trades-unions  nor  strikes.  There  is  little 
opening  as  yet  for  persons  of  small  means.  The  govern- 
ment has  taken  but  its  first  rudimentary  steps  toward  the 
encouragement  of  immigration,  and  the  path  is  beset  with 
difficulties. 

A  commercial  treaty  is  nov/  in  the  hands  of  the  Senate 
of  the  United  States.  It  will  be  adopted  in  some  form 
before  long,  and  may  result  in  the  improvement  of  local 
business  opportunities,  as  it  must  in  the  volume  of  trade, 
between  the  two  countries.  What  we  want  is  such  a  re- 
duction of  duties  as  to  put  us  on  the  same  footing  at  least 
as  England  (in  favor  of  which  there  is  a  certain  discrimi- 
nation), so  that  our  goods  and  machinery  can  be  sold  in 
the  country  on  reasonable  terms.  It  is  predicted  that  a 
trade  which  is  now  about  $30,000,000  per  annum  (includ- 
ing both  exports  and  imports)  can  be  made  $100,000,000. 
The  Mexicans,  on  their  side,  desire  admission  for  their 
sugar  and  hernp.  The  treaty  has  met  with  its  chief  op- 
position thus  far  from  our  Southern  sugar -planters. 
Their  fear  of  competition  is  hardly  reasonable  at  pres- 
ent. Our  own  product  seems  more  likel}'  to  go  to  Mex- 
ico at  first.  It  is  a  matter  of  note  that  sugar  has  been 
selling  at  eighteen  cents  a  pound  of  late  at  old  Monterey, 
in  the  country  which  professes  to  raise  it.*     The  total 

*  Detailed  figures  of  our  trade  with  Mexico,  and  other  useful  mat- 
ters, will  be  found  in  the  "Border  States  of  Mexico,"  by  Leonidas 
Hamilton.     Chicago,  1883. 


THE  QUESTION   OF  MONEY,  AND   SHOPPINO.       101 

value  of  the  exports  from  Mexico  for  tlie  past  fiscal  year 
has  been  $29,000,000.  Of  these  $14,000,000  came  to  us, 
and  $10,000,000  went  to  England.  Our  own  exports  to 
Mexico  for  18S1  were  somewliat  over  $11,000,000. 


II. 

•  At  present  Mexico  is  perhaps  tlie  most  difficult  coun- 
try in  which  to  do  business  in  the  civilized  world.  A 
customer  four  or  live  hundred  miles  off,  even  on  the  best 
roads,  is  Hve  or  six  days'  journey  distant.  In  preparing 
for  it  it  is  not  long  since  he  was  accustomed  to  first  make 
his  will.  The  merchant  has  friendly  as  well  as  commer- 
cial relations  with  his  customer.  lie  is  more  or  less  his 
banker  at  the  same  time,  not  fur  the  resulting  profit,  but 
because  it  is  expected  of  him.  If  he  does  not  offer  such 
accommodation  some  other  house  will.  Credits  are  long, 
and  it  is  not  expected  that  interest  will  be  charged  even 
on  quite  liberal  overlaps  of  time. 

Payment  is  made  in  the  bulky  silver  currency  of  the 
country;  and  this  is  sent  in  large  sums  by  guarded  con- 
voys, the  conductas,w\\\Q\\  converge  upon  the  capital  four 
times  a  year — in  January,  April,  August,  and  November. 
There  were  but  two  banks  issuing  bills  at  this  time,  and 
tliese  to  but  a  small  amount,  and  receivable  only  at  short 
distances  from  the  capital.  One  of  these  was  a  private 
corporation,  the  other  the  National  Monte  de  Piedad,  or 
pawn-shop. 

The  visitor  becomes  early  acquainted  with  tlie  Mexican 
"dollar  of  the  fathers,"  to  his  sorrow.  Sixteen  of  them 
weigh  a  solid  pound.  It  is  obviously  impossible  to  carry 
even  a  moderate  quantity  of  this  money  concealed,  or  to 
carry  it  at  all  with  comfort.  The  unavoidable  exhibition 
of  it,  held  in  laps,  chinking  in   valises,  standing  in   bags, 


102 


OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


and  poured  out  in  prodigious  streams  at  tlie  banks  and 
commercial  houses,  is  one  of  tlie  features  of  life. 

Guadalajara,  the  supply  from  which  unites  with  that 
from  Zacatecas  at  Queretaro,  is  the  northernmost  point 
from  which  money  is  despatched  by  conducta  to  Mexico. 
A  portion  of  that  even  from  here  is  despatched  to  San 

Francisco,  by  the  poi-t 
of  San  Bias,  just  as  a 
part  of  that  from  Za- 
catecas goes  to  Tam- 
pico  through  San  Luis 
Potosi.  The  country 
north  of  San  Luis  to 
the  east  ships  its  funds 
to  Matamoras ;  those 
of  Durango  are  di- 
vided between  Mata- 
moras and  Mazatlan  ; 
while  Puebla,  Oaxaca, 
and  the  rest  of  the 
south  find  their  nat- 
ural outlet  at  Yei-a 
Cruz. 

The  importance  of 
the  great  conducta  in 
these  times  is  dimin- 
ished by  the  growing  safety  of  the  transport  of  money 
by  private  hands.  Its  days  are  numbered  with  the 
progress  of  the  railways,  nearing  so  rapidly  the  central 
cluster  of  cities  in  which  it  has  its  origin.  Even  now  it 
no  longer  came  wholl}^  to  town,  but  took  the  Central  train 
at  the  first  feasible  point,  at  Ilueliuetoca,  the  Spanish  cut 
for  the  drainage  of  tlie>  valley.  Its  place  as  a  spectacle  is 
filled  i)y  the  pay  conductas  of  the  railroads. 


THE    "POUTALKS"    AT    MEXICO. 


THE  QUESTION  OF  MONEY,  AND  SHOPPING.       103 

A  revision  of  these  accounts  is  needed  almost  from 
moment  to  moment  as  I  write,  to  kee])  pace  with  the  rapid 
changes  in  affairs.  A  National  Bank  and  banks  of  foreign 
incoi'porators  have  been  established  in  the  mean  time,  with 
anthoritj'  to  issue  large  amounts  of  but  inefticiently  se- 
cured paper.  The  Mexican  National  Bank  may  now  issue 
bills  to  the  amount  of  $60,000,000,  upon  a  capital  of 
$20,000,000.  They  are  legal  tender  from  individuals  to 
the  governaient,  but  not  from  the  government  to  individ- 
uals, nor  between  individuals.  One  of  the  arguments  in 
favor  of  this  bank,  our  minister  M-as  assured,  was  that  it 
would  counteract  in  some  sort  the  influence"  of  the  Utiited 
States:  the  usual  patriotic  leaven  cropping  up,  it  will  be 
seen ;  though  how  it  should  accomplish  the  purpose  in 
view  it  is  by  no  means  easy  to  understand.  A  flood  of 
depreciated  paper  is  driving  the  solid  coin  out  of  circula- 
tion; so  that,  while  the  traveller  may  be  now  able  to 
carr}^  his  money  comfortably  about  him,  there  may  be 
much  worse  in  store  for  the  Mexicans  themselves  than 
the  handling  of  bags  of  unwieldy  dollars.  It  is  not 
pleasant  to  see  also  that  the  government  shows  some 
nnusnal  pecuniar}^  embarrassment.  Its  expenditures  for 
the  last  fiscal  year  exceeded  its  revenues  by  ten  per  cent., 
and  a  loan  is  talked  of.  Should  a  spirit  of  recklessness 
enter  into  the  management  of  the  finances,  in  all  this 
whirl  of  novelties,  complicated  by  the  issues  of  paper,  a 
crisis  might  be  precipitated,  which  would,  of  course,  have 
to  be  counted  among  the  retarding  influences  on  the  rail- 
ways. 

III. 

Shops  and  shopping  in  Mexico  follow  much  more  Eu- 
ropean than  American  traditions.  A  fanciful  title  over 
the  door  of  the  shop  takes  the  place  of  the  name  of  a  firm 


104  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


\ 


or  single  proprietor.  You  have  no  Smith  &  Brown,  but, 
instead — on  the  sign  of  a  dry-goods  store,  for  instance — 
"  The  Surprise,"  or  "  The  Spring-time,"  or  "  The  Explo- 
sion." A  jeweller's  is  apt  to  be  called  "  The  Pearl,"  or 
"  The  Emerald  ;"  a  shoe-store,  "  The  Foot  of  Venus,"  or 
"Tlie  Azure  Boot." 

The  windows  are  tastefully  draped,  after  the  way  of 
shop- windows.  Within  stand  a  large  force  of  clerks, 
touching  shoulder  to  shoulder.  They  seem  -democratic 
in  their  manners,  even  by  an  American  standard.  They 
shake  hands  over  the  counter  with  a  pati'on  with  whom 
they  have  enjoyed  a  slight  previous  acquaintance;  ask  a 
mother  of  a  family,  perhaps,  after  the  health  of  "  Miss 
Lolita "  and  "  Miss  Soledad,"  her  daughters,  who  may 
have  accompanied  her  thither.  One  of  them,  they  hear, 
is  going  to  be  married.  Perhaps  this  is  accounted  for 
by  the  presence  among  the  minor  clerks  of  some  of  con- 
siderable social  position — some  of  the  class  you  meet  with 
afterward  at  the  select  entertainments  of  the  Minister  of 
Guatemala,  for  instance.  But  a  limited  choice  of  occu- 
pations has  been  open  to  the  youth  of  Mexico,  and  those 
who  cared  to  work  have  had  to  take  such  places  as  they 
could.  They  apply  now  with  great  eagerness  for  the 
positions  of  every  sort  offering  under  the  new  enter- 
prises. 

It  was  not  etiquette  of  late  for  ladies  of  the  upper  class 
to  do  shopping  in  public,  except  from  their  carriages,  the 
ijoods  beino;  brought  out  to  them  at  the  curb-stone.  Now 
they  may  enter  shops.  A  considerable  part  of  the  buy- 
ing, as  of  furniture  and  other  household  goods,  is  still 
done  by  the  men  of  the  family.  Nor  was  it  etiquette 
for  ladies  to  be  seen  walking  in  the  streets,  even  with  a 
maid,  except  to  and  from  mass  in  the  morning. 

The  change  in  both  respects  is  ascribed  to  the  horse- 


THE  QUESTION   OF  MOXEY,  AND   SHOPPIXG.       1()5 

cars.  The  point  of  cereuionj,  it  appears,  was  founded 
somewhat  upon  the  ditficulty  of  getting  about. 

Americanism  now  appears  in  the  streets  with  increas- 
ing frequency,  in  the  signs  of  dealers  in  arms,  sewing- 
macliines,  and  otlier  of  our  useful  inventions.  i)\\v  in- 
surance companies,  too,  are  a  novel  idea,  to  which  the 
Mexicans  seem  to  take  with  much  readiness.  The  ])rin- 
cipal  shopping  hours  are  from  four  to  six  o'clock  of  the 
afternoon.  From  one  till  three,  or  even  four,  little  is 
done.  Even  the  horse-cars  do  not  run  in  the  middle  of 
the  day.  There  is  a  general  sto])page  of  affairs  for  din- 
ner. It  is  but  a  short  time  since  that  enterprising  per- 
son, the  commercial  traveller,  was  unknown  in  the  coun- 
try, but  now  he  begins  to  flourish  hei'e  as  elsewhere. 

The  profits  of  favorably  situated  houses,  in  the  absence 
of  keen  competition,  have  been  very  large,  and  methods 
of  doing  business  correspondingly  loose.  The  Mexican 
merchant  does  not  go  into  a  fine  calculation  of  the  pro- 
])ortionate  value  of  each  item  of  a  foreign  invoice,  but 
"lumps"  the  profit  he  thiid-cs  he  ought  to  receive  on  the 
whole.  Some  articles,  in  conse(puince,  can  be  bought  at 
less  than  their  real  value,  while  others,  in  com[)ensation, 
are  exorbitantly  advanced. 

It  is  the  smaller  trade,  and  that  most  removed  from 
metropolitan  influences,  which  is  the  gayest  and  most 
entertaining  as  a  spectacle.  How  many  )>ictnresque  mar- 
ket scenes  does  not  one  linger  in  !  Each  community  has 
its  own  market-day,  not  to  interfere  with  others.  The 
flags  of  the  plaza  and  market-houses,  which  are  commodi- 
ous and  well  built,  are  hidden  under  fruits,  grains,  cocoa 
sacks  and  mats,  striped  blankets  and  rebosos,  sprawling 
brown  limbs,  embroidei*ed  bodices  and  kirtles,  as  if  spread 
with  a  thick,  richly  colored  rug.  A  grade  above  the  open 
market  is  the  Parian,  a  bazaar  of  small  shops,  in  which 

5* 


106 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


goods,  sales-people,  and  ciistoiuers  alike  might  all  be  put 
upon  canvas  only  with  the  most  vivid  of  hues. 

I  ffive  some  ex- 
amples  of  tiie 
s^_^  j  street  architecture 
of  the  more  im- 
portant shops. 
The  approach  to 
many  is  under  the 
welcome  portales, 
shady  in  sunshine 
and  dry  in  the 
wet.  Not  a  few 
of  the  shops  have 
been  old  Spanish 
palaces  before  be- 
ing adapted  to 
their  present  use. 
I  transferred  to 
my  sketch-book  a 
bit  from  tlie  lead- 
ing inerceria  (dry- 
goods  store)  of  the 
important  minor 
city  of  Puebla 
which  I  thought 
particularly  inter- 
esting. It  was 
called,  after  tlie 
prevailing  fash- 
ion, "  The  City  of  Mexico."  The  entire  front  —  upon 
which  still  remained  the  carved  escutcheon,  showing  that 
it  had  been  the  residence  of  a  family  of  rank — was  faced 
up  between  carvings,  in  a  gay  pattern  in  tiles,  the  figures 
glazed,  the  I'cst  an  nmrlazed  ^fround  of  red. 


A   "MERCERIa"   at    I'rEBLA. 


SOCIAL  LIFE,  AXD  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIONS.     107 


IX. 

SOCIAL  LIFE,  AND  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIONS. 


The  persons  who  once  lived  in  these  old  Spanish  pal- 
aces, and  descendants  of  the  titles  of  nobility  existing  be- 
fore the  Independanee,  are  still  much  esteemed  in  a  certain 
small  circle  in  the  country.  There  are  pointed  out  to  yon 
tliose  who  should  by  right  be  marquises  and  counts,  and 
tlie  titles  are  occasionally  given  them.  The  Mexican  no- 
bles, from  the  time  of  Cortes  down,  lived  in  magnificent 
style  in  their  day.  The  Count  of  Regla,  who  has  leff^fe 
trace  after  him  in  many  directions,  must  have  enjoyed 
almost  the  state  of  royalty.  A  single  hacienda  of  his  in 
Michoacan  was  thirty  leagues  in  length  by  seventeen  in 
breadth,  and,  sloping  down  from  the  temperate  plateau 
to  the  tropic,  comprised  in  its  extent  the  products  of  al- 
most every  clime.  He  fitted  out  two  ships  of  the  largest 
size,  building  them  of  mahogany  and  cedar,  and  pre- 
sented them  to  the  King  of  Spain.  Inviting  his  majesty 
to  visit  the  country,  he  assured  him  that  his  horse  should 
tread  on  nothing  but  ingots  of  silver  from  the  coast  to 
the  capital. 
^:j  A  remnant  of  the  old  noblesse  rallied  around  Maximil- 
ian when  he  came  to  assume  the  Emperor's  crown.  With 
this,  and  what  remains  of  Maximilian's  court,  and  some 
few  other  families  of  a  peculiarly  exclusive  turn,  a  circle 
is  constituted  somewhat    corresponding  to  the  Parisian 


108  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

Faubourg  St.  Germain.  They  are  sometimes  stigmatized 
as  "Mochos,"  literally  hypocrites.  They  are  rich,  pass 
much  of  tlieir  time  abroad,  protest  against  the  sequestra- 
tion of  the  Church  property,  and  exhibit  a  refined  liorror 
at  the  vandalism  of  these  later  times. 

"The  government,"  they  tell  you,  "  is  in  the  hands  of 
the  populacho,  the  rabble ;  the  g&nte  honrada^  respectable 
society,  has  nothing  to  do  with  it." 

In  a  novel  which  I  have  by  a  Mexican  writer,  Cuellar, 
a  secretary  of  legation  at  Washington,  the  scene  is  laid 
in  this  faction  or  clique.  "  Chona,"  or  Incarnacion,  the 
heroine,  or  leading  feminine  character,  "  had  been  brought 
up  from  childhood  more  to  abhor  than  admire.  The  con- 
versations in  the  family  continually  turned  upon  the 
utter  antipathy  which  the  men  and  things  of  Mexico 
inspired." 

"  They  had  for  visitors  Church  notables  and  those  of 
the  wealthy  who  still  retained  the  parchments  of  their 
ancestry.  If  they  made  any  new  acquaintance  it  was 
some  Spaniard  lately  come  into  relations  with  them 
through  the  business  of  their  estates." 

The  fashionable  men  in  the  story  have  been  educated 
at  Paris,  and  become  elegantly  hlase  there  as  well.  In 
contrast  to  these  is  shown  one  Sanchez,  a  vulgar,  pushing 
fellow,  upheaved  from  the  depths  by  the  revolutions. 
He  has  the  "  gift  of  gab,"  which  he  has  utilized  to  make 
himself  a  figure  in  politics;  has  enriched  himself  with  the 
spoils  of  the  Church  establishment,  and  secured  a  good 
place  under  government.  He  more  than  hints,  however, 
when  he  is  found  to  have  finally  lost  it,  that  he  is  ready 
to  engage  in  upsetting  "Don  Benito" — it  is  now  under 
the  regime  of  President  Juarez  that  the  scene  is  laid — or 
in  any  other  convulsion  that  may  promise  to  again  mend 
his  fortunes. 


SOCIAL  LIFE,  AND  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIONS.     100 


II. 

I  do  not  quite  know  Avhicli  side  the  writer  himself  is 
on,  in  this  satirical  work;  it  is  so  bitter  all  around.  It  is 
certainly  interesting  as  showing  two  such  boldly  distinct 
types,  one  of  them  at  least  picturesque,  evolved  out  of 
the  peculiar  conflicts  of  the  country.  Let  us  hope  that 
there  are  few  of  the  dangerous  Sanchez  pattei'n  in  the 
present  juncture  of  affairs.  The  Mochos  cannot  now  be 
numerous  nor  dangerous,  with  the  wholesale  victory  of 
middle  or  lower  class  republicanism  around  them.  They 
have  taken  little  part,  voluntarily,  in  the  successive  revo- 
lutions since  their  own  overthrow,  leaving  them  rather  to 
be  fought  out  by  ])rofessional  soldiers  of  fortune.  They 
temporize  a  little;  attend,  perhaps,  the  wedding  of  some 
rich  railway  contractor's  daughter,  in  order,  as  they  sa^', 
not  to  draw  upon  themselves  a  direct  entnity;  but  they 
do  not  open  their  own  houses  in  return  ;  they  do  not 
"entertain." 

Don  Sebastian  Lerdo,  spoken  of  as  the  most  scholarly 
President  the  country  ever  had,  is  conceded  to  have  been 
to  a  considerable  extent  "in  societ}'."  He  was  expelled 
by  Porfirio  Diaz,  and  is  now  in  retirement  at  New  York. 
The  political  class  since  that  time  has  either  not  been 
well  received  in  the  circle  spoken  of,  or,  perhaps  too  busy 
with  other  affairs,  has  not  greatly  cared  for  it. 

Such  being  the  case,  there  are  few  reunions,  and  these 
of  an  informal  character.  Nor  do  the  officials  give  enter- 
tainments themselves.  Social  gayeties,  as  we  understand 
them,  can  hardly  be  said  to  exist  in  Mexico.  It  is  only 
under  the  neutral  roofs  of  the  foreign  ministers  that  they 
take  place  with  some  satisfaction.  I  had  the  good  fortune 
to  be  at  the  capital  during  the  visit  of  General  Grant,  and 


110         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


to  see  a  social  movement  wliicli,  by  the  general  testimony, 
was  quite  plienomonal.  There  was,  among  the  rest,  a 
fashionable  wedding,  attended  by  the  President  and  his 
cabinet.  A  "  reception  "  and  banquet  were  given  in  the 
evenino^  on  the  occasion  of  the  siifniuij  of  a  civil  contract 
between  the  parties.  The  religious  ceremony  took  place 
at  church  next  day.  The  interior  courts  of  the  house 
were  wreathed  with  flowers,  and  lent  theujselves  palatial- 
ly  to  the  festivity,  as  they  always  do.  The  banquet  was 
spread  along  the  bases  of  the  columns  of  tlie  arcade. 

The  3'oung  Mexican  women  are  still  kept  apart  from 
the  other  sex,  and  made  love  to  chiefly  on  their  balconies 
in  the  good  old-fashioned,  romantic  stvle.  Their  man- 
ners  when  met  with  in  public,  however,  are  not  so  un- 
usual as  might  be  expected.  They  seem  neither  more 
nor  less  diflident  than  elsewhere.  They  are  allowed  to 
take  part  at  balls  in  a  slow  waltz  called  the  danza — so 
slow  as  hardly  to  be  a  dance  at  all — which  is  chiefly  an 
opportunity  for  conversation. 

The  high-contracting  parties  to  the  marringc  above- 
mentioned  were  by  no  means  young,  and  in  general  the  ex- 
ceeding precocity  of  development  and  early  age  of  enter- 
ing into  the  marriage  rehition  supposed  to  be  characteristic 
of  the  tropics  were  not  a])parent.  It  was  said  that  mei'ce- 
nai'y  considenitions  were  not  frequent,  and  claim  was  laid 
to  a  good  deal  of  simplicity  and  honest  affection  in  the 
settlement  of  these  matters ;  though  how  the  parties  get 
at  each  other,  under  the  restrictive  system,  sufficiently  to 
enter  upoti  a  simple  and  honest  affection,  is  one  of  those 
things  that  reuuiin  a  mystery.  It  is  said  that  the  young 
woman  who  remains  single  is  not  stigmatized  for  it  in  the 
common  way  as  "old  maid."  They  say  very  charmingly 
instead  :  "  She  is  ditticult.     She  is  hard  to  suit." 

Ill  the  country  the  match-making  is  often  taken  charge 


1 


SOCIAL  LIFE.  AXD  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIONS.     Ill 


nil  M  nilMM  iiiiiimnBin 


112  OLD   MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  bj  tlie  village  priest,  who  brings  the  parties  together 
linally  at  dinner. 

As  a  general  remark,  the  manners  of  the  lower  class  of 
the  country  ai"e  much  better  than  ours,  and  those  of  tlie  I 
upper  are  not  as  good — not  as  often  based  upon  real 
kindliness  of  heart  and  genuine  desire  to  be  of  service. 
The  Mexican  promises  a  hundred  things  which  he  has  no 
intention,  often  no  ability,  of  performing.  The  Ameri-- 
can  is  not  without  his  faidts — the  moi'e's  the  pity — but 
in  a  general  way  he  aims  to  do  as  he  agrees.  He^.will 
often  make  against  the  Mexican  the  reproach  of  a  certain 
slipperiness — a  lack  of  appreciation  of  the  importance  of 
adhering  to  his  word. 

III. 

Each  considerable  gi-oup  of  foi-eign  residents, -lis  the 
French,  Germans,  and  Spaniards,  has  its  handsome  casino, 
or  club-house,  whicii  is  a  standing  resource  for  the  diver- 
sion of  members. 

A  French  traveller  as  far  back  as  1838  complains  of 
the  unsociable  conduct  of  the  Mexicans.  If  something 
of  the  kind  be  still  observed,  therefore,  it  is  not  new. 
"They  abound,"  he  says,  "in  a  superfluity  of  fine 
phrases,  and  it  is  in  this  easy  way  that  they  discharge 
themselves  of  their  obligations." 

All  who  know  European  life,  however,  ai'e  aware  that 
the  theatre  and  the  cafe,  with  people  of  the  Latin  race, 
largely  take  the  place  of  the  social  visiting  and  entertain- 
ing at  home  prevailing  among  Anglo-Saxons.  Our  next- 
door  neighbors,  after  all,  may  oTily  have  followed,  making 
a  little  more  severe,  the  traditions  of  Old  Spain.  Ladies 
do  not  often  appear  at  the  cafes,  but  they  are  often 
at  their  boxes  at  the  theatres,  to  which  they  subscribe 
by  the  season  ;  antl  tliey  would  go  more  frequently  yet. 


SOCIAL  LIFE,  AND  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIOXS.     113 

J 
1 


MEXICAN    COCRTSniP. 


114         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

no  doubt,  were  tlie  pieces  as  a  rule  better  wortli  their 
consideration.  There  are  three  large,  well-built  theatres, 
the  Nacional,  Principal,  and  Arbeu,  and  minor  ones  for 
the  working-class. 

The  entertainments  esteemed  of  chief  importance  are 
those  of  the  French  oj)era  couipanies  which  come  over 
from  Havana,  on  their  rounds.  A  native  Spanisli  opei'a- 
bouife  and  ballet,  called  zarzuela^  is  much  given  at  other 
times.  For  the  rest,  the  theatrical  pieces  presented  are 
the  works,  in  prose  and  verse,  of  the  Spanish  dramatists 
current  at  honie,  or  occasionally  of  some  native  dramatist, 
announced  with  an  exti-a  flourish  which  his  production 
does  not  usually  justify.  They  are  all  announced  with 
a  sufficient  flourish,  so  far  as  that  is  concerned.  There  is 
always  going  on  some  especially  Gran  Funcion,  as,  for 
example : 

"The  grand  Drama  of  Customs,  Entirely  New,  in 
three  acts  and  verse,  by  the  distinguished  poet,  D.  Leo- 
poldo  Cano,  authoi-  of  the  precious  comedy, '  La  Mariposa,' 
entitled  'La  Opinion  Publica.' 

"  This  sublime  work  of  the  distinguished  poet,  D.  Leo- 
poldo  Cano,"  the  bill  goes  on  to  say,  "  was  received  at 
Madrid  with  an  astounding  acclaim.  The  Spanish  Press 
has  lavished  upon  it  a  thousand  eulogies.  *  *  *  In  choos- 
ing it  fur  the  second  subscription  night,  we  feel  that  the 
public  will  know  how  to  value  it  as  it  truly  merits,  and  to 
value  at  the  same  time  the  skill  of  the  Company  in  their 
most  finished  studies  and  essays." 

I  do  not  recollect  any  of  this  as  very  novel,  or  likely  to 
be  of  interest  if  translated,  apart  from  some  portions  de- 
pending upon  such  a  difference  of  manners  and  customs 
as  to  be  hardly  intelligible  to  an  American  audience.  My 
acquaintance  with  the  theatre  began  with  a  piece  at  the 
Nacional,  called  "  The  Fii'sr  Patient."     There  was  a  young 


SOCIAL  LIFE,  AND  SOME  NOTABLE  IN8TITUT10XS.     115 

doctor  on  the  stage,  and  an  acquaintance  of  his  liad  fallen 
in  love  with  his  wife,  and  put  a  note  in  her  work-basket 
by  way  of  telling  her  so.  The  note  was  conveyed  to  the 
husband,  who,  instead  of  shooting  the  imprudent  writer, 
took  occasion  presently  to  assume  a  look  of  horror,  and 
pretend  that  the  latter  iiad  gone  blind.  Before  the  Lo- 
thario could  protest,  a  bandage  was  clapped  over  his  eyes, 
medicaments  given  to  make  him  believe  in  his  own  mis- 
fortune, and  he  was  put  under  a  course  of  onerous  treat- 
ment. 

After  a  series  of  absurd  situations  he  M'as  finally  re- 
leased, persuaded  by  degrees  that  he  was  cured.  The 
patient  raised  the  bandage,  '■'•Yeo!  veo P'' — "I  see!" — he 
exclaimed,  in  wild  delight. 

"  Yery  well,  then — see  that !"  said  the  husband,  thrust- 
ing the  offending  letter  under  his  nose. 

This  was  amusing  enough,  but  I  was  quite  as  much 
amused  all  the  time  with  the  studious  efforts  of  a  com- 
panion who  had  come  with  me — the  French  engineer  sent 
out  to  examine  mines,  before  mentioned — who  proposed 
to  turn  the  theatre  into  a  school  of  languages.  He 
grasped  at  every  word  a  semblance  of  which  he  seemed 
to  catch,  and  dived  for  verifications  of  it  into  his  gram- 
mar and  dictionary.  He  resented  in  his  ambition  any 
interpretation  of  passages  whicli  he  did  not  himself  orig- 
inate, and  constructed  such  a  theory  of  the  play  as  its 
author  would  by  no  means  have  recognized.  When  the 
denouement  came,  in  the  bold  ''''Yeo P''  he  seized  upon  it 
with  avidity. 

"  '  Yeo^  c'est  bien  trouve  ga — '  veo,''  "  he  said,  reflect- 
ively, digesting  it  at  his  leisure,  "t/t?  vais  le  retenir  ce 
^  mo  f  vous-allez  voiry 

And  so  he  did,  and  proceeded  to  use  it  vigorously  in 
the  restaurants  and  the  like  on  the  following  day. 


116  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


\ 


IV. 


Though  so  much  more  be  still  proposed,  there  are  cer- 
tainly some  reasons  for  self-complacency  in  the  country 
even  from  the  American  point  of  view.  Education  is 
found  to  be  provided  for  in  a  manner  that  awakens  admi- 
ration and  surprise.  The  primary  schools  are  least  looked 
after,  but  the  pupils  who  pass  through  these  with  a  dispo- 
sition to  go  farther  have  an  array  of  advantages  open  to 
them  at  the  capital  superior  to  anything  of  a  parallel  sort 
in  the  United  States.  The  Government  maintains  na- 
tional schools  respectively  of  engineering,  law.  medicine, 
agriculture,  mechanic  arts,  and  trades  (for  both  sexes),  a 
conservator}^  of  music,  an  academy  of  line  arts,  and  a 
library,  provided  with  an  edifice  that  New  York  well 
might  envj'.  It  maintains  a  museum,  institutions  for 
blind,  deaf  and  dumb,  and  insane,  for  oiphans,  and  young 
crimiiuils,  and  a  long  list  besides  of  the  usual  charities  of 
enlightened  communities.  The  schools  are  open  without 
money  and  without  price  to  all,  and  there  are  even  funds 
to  provide  board,  lodging,  and  pocket-money  for  students 
from  a  distance,  who  are  selected  on  certain  easy  condi- 
tions. 

The  students  in  agricultui'e  pass  some  months  of  the 
year  at  the  haciendas  to  observe  different  crops  and  cli- 
mates. The  graduates  of  the  School  of  Arts  and  Meas- 
ures go  out  into  the  world  prepared  to  make  theii"  living 
as  carpentei'S,  masons,  photographers,  electro-platers,  and 
at  numerous  other  trades.  Before  an  opinion  is  passed 
upon  Mexican  civilization  the  accoinmodatiuns  and  neat 
uniforms  of  the  pupils  of  the  blind  institute  should  be 
seen  ;  the  noble  building  erected  in  the  last  century  for 
the  School  of  Mines ;  the  beautifully  clean,  wide  corridors. 


SOCIAL  LIFE,  AND  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIONS.     117 

sunny  class-rooms,  embroidery -rooms,  dormitories,  and 
drawing-rooms  of  the  Viscapias,  the  national  college  for 
girls;  and  the  arcades  and  charming  central  garden  of 
the  National  Preparatory  School  (in  the  professions)  for 
yonng  men. 

There  was  a  fountain  spouting  among  tropical  plants 
in  the  garden  of  the  Preparatory  School  the  day  I  went 
there,  and  by  the  fountain  was  a  young  panther,  or  lion, 
of  the  country,  as  they  call  it,  confined  in  a  cage.  The 
students,  young  fellows,  who  did  not  differ  so  greatly  from 
Yale  and  Harvard  undergraduates  in  aspect,  except  for 
the  dusky  Indian  complexions  among  them,  came  now 
and  then  and  stirred  up  the  lion  a  little,  making  him  play 
with  a  ball  in  his  cage.  They  seemed  to  prepare  their 
recitations  walking  around  the  garden  or  sitting  in  the 
ample  corridors. 

The  principal  text -books  are  studied  in  French  or 
English,  in  which  languages  they  are  apt  to  be  written, 
and  the  recitations  are  conducted  in  the  same  languages ; 
so  that,  what  is  so  rare  with  us,  graduates  emerge  from 
these  schools  very  tolerable  linguists  without  ever  having 
been  out  of  their  own  country. 

All  these  institutions  are  housed  for  the  most  part  in 
the  vast  ancient  convent  edifices,  which  furnish  ample 
quarters  to  whatever  is  in  need  of  them — to  barracks, 
hospitals,  post-offices,  prisons,  railway  stations,  iron  foun- 
deries,  and  cotton-mills. 

Each  state  of  the  republic,  again,  lias  its  free  college. 
Judging  from  that  of  the  state  of  Hidalgo,  however, 
which  I  saw  at  Pachuca — its  internal  arrangements  in  a 
very  filthy  condition — all  do  not  follow  very  closely  the 
example  of  the  capital. 

In  the  department  of  jails,  unhappily,  there  is  a  defi- 
ciency.    As  at  present  arranged,  they  can  present   but 


118  OLD   MEXICO   AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

moderate  terrors  to  evil-doers.  The  really  fine  peniten- 
tiary at  Guadalaxara  is  the  only  one  in  which  modern 
ideas  of  penal  discipline  are  followed.  There  is  no  death 
penalty  for  political  offences  —  nnder  which  head  the 
worst  bandits  wonld  often  seek  to  shield  themselves — but 
the  number  of  offenders  is  kept  down  by  semi-official 
lynchings,  shooting  on  capture,  into  which  nobody  ever 
inquires,  and  transportation  to  Yucatan.  One  cannot  but 
look  with  uneasiness  on  the  slightness  of  the  means  of 
restraint  here  and  there  employed.  The  bolts  and  bars 
are  often  only  lattices  of  wood  instead  of  iron.  At  the 
city  prison  of  Belen  some  two  thousand  persons  are  con- 
fined. It  seemed  to  me  that  a  large  part  of  them  must  be 
much  more  comfortable  than  at  their  own  squalid  homes. 
They  made  a  strange  spectacle,  indeed,  looked  down  upon 
in  their  large  courts.  Of  all  ages,  and  for  sentences  of 
all  durations,  thej^  eat,  sleep,  and  work  at  various  light 
occupations  together.  No  attempt  is  made  to  prevent 
their  communicating  or  staring  about.  They  have  good 
air,  light,  and  food,  and  are  allowed  a  part  of  their  own 
earnings.  They  take  a  siesta  at  noon,  play  checkers,  gos- 
sip, and  even  bathe  luxuriously  in  a  central  tank. 

The  liberality  toward  education  spoken  of  is  the  more 
creditable  since  the  Mexican  treasury  is  not  flourishing, 
and  a  yearly  deficit  is  more  common  than  a  surplus. 
These  expenses  appear  to  be  regarded  as  essential,  what- 
ever else  may  suffer.  It  is  the  more  creditable,  too,  since 
the  heads  of  the  government  do  not  indulge  themselves 
in  expensive  surroundings.  The  American  legislator  is 
not  himself  without  his  marble  colonnades  and  his  furni- 
ture of  black  walnut  upholstered  in  Russia  leather;  but 
President  and  Cabinet  ministers  here  walk  upon  thread- 
bare carpets  in  the  National  Palace.  The  chamber  of  the 
Senate  is  a  modest  little  hall ;  and  the  Deputies  sit  in 


SOCIAL  LIFE,  AND  SOME  NOTABLE  INSTITUTIONS.     119 

shabby  quarters  in  anotlier  part  of  town,  wliieli  were  once 
simply  a  place  of  amusement,  the  Theatre  Itnrbide. 

The  museum,  chiefly  of  Aztec  antiquities,  to  which  one 
turns  with  interest,  is  not  of  the  extent  or  informin<^ 
character  that  may  have  been  expected,  and  is  under  by 
no  means  brilliant  managen)ent.  Its  greatest  attraction 
is  the  arrangement  of  some  of  the  larger  fragments,  par- 
ticularly the  great  sacrificial  stone  from  the  ancient  tem- 
ple of  the  war-god,  in  the  court-yard.  There  is  a  setting 
of  shrubbery  and  vines  about  them,  and  the  sunlight 
striking  in  among  these  upon  the  gray  old  remains,  pro- 
duces some  charmino;  effects. 


120  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  I'ROVINCES. 


X. 

THE  FINE  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE. 

I. 

The  school  of  fine  arts,  on  the  otlier  hand,  the  Acade- 
my of  San  Carlos — which  was  to  celebrate  with  a  special 
exhibition  tlie  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  its  founda- 
tion— produces,  both  in  its  collections  and  the  ability  of 
its  directing  professors,  a  most  satisfactory  and  agreeable 
impression.  You  enter  galleries  which  carry  you  back 
again  to  the  Louvre  and  Uffizi.  They  used  a  great  deal 
of  bitumen,  the  old  painters  here.  In  its  darkening  it 
has  left  now  and  then  only  isolated  lights  upon  a  face  or 
bits  of  drapery  to  glimmer  out  of  a  midnight  gloom.  It 
is  an  artificial  taste,  no  doubt,  to  like  it,  and  "caviare  to 
the  general ;"  but  like  it  one  does,  at  its  most  artificial, 
after  a  long  absence  from  anything  of  the  kind. 

The  walls  recall  such  galleries  as  that  of  Bologna  in 
the  liberal  scale  of  the  works  displayed.  With  such 
models  before  them,  there  is  no  reason  why  students 
should  fall  into  a  niggling  and  petty  style.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  do  not.  They  seem  to  excel  in  a  bold,  large 
composition  and  the  rendering  of  grandiose  ideas.  This, 
rather  than  color,  is  their  strong  point.  If  our  New  York 
schools  of  art  are  able  to  equal  the  portfolio  of  drawings 
I  saw  as  the  result  of  a  fortnightly  exei'cise,  they  are  cer- 
tainly not  in  the  habit  of  doing  so.  Nor  were  they  at  all 
equalled  by  those  of  the  prize  competition  of  the  students 


LAS   CASAS   PROTECTING  THE  AZTECS. 
By  Felix  Parrs. 


V 


THE  FINE  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE.  121 

of  the  British  Royal  Academy  which  I  saw  in  the  first 
year  of  the  presidency  of  Sir  Frederick  Leighton.  This 
devotion  to  large  academical  ideas — the  fortunes  of  Ores- 
tes, Regulus,  and  Belisarius  —  it  is  true,  is  a  source  of 
weakness  rather  than  strength  from  the  money  point  of 
view.  The  market  of  the  time  demands  a  domestic, 
tjenre,  realistic,  and  not  a  grandiose  art.  The  market  for 
art  of  any  kind  in  Mexico  is  extremely  small.  There  are 
no  government  commissions  farther  than  an  occasional 
portrait  or  two,  and  enlightened  patrons  hardly  exist. 
There  are  no  pictures  of  consequence  in  the  best  Mexi- 
can houses.  The  predictions  at  Havana  were  not  veri- 
fied. The  abundance  of  native  talent  receives  little  en- 
couragement. Many  a  bright  genius  is  forced  to  paint 
his  inventions  on  the  walls  of  pulque  shops,  and  finally 
to  quit  the  profession  for  lack  of  support. 

The  subjects  are,  for  the  most  part,  severely  religious, 
in  consonance  with  the  taste  of  the  wealthy  convents,  the 
patrons  of  art  for  whom  they  were  originally  painted. 
The  series  is  in  a  declining  order  of  merit  chronologi- 
cally. The  earliest  Mexican  masters  are  the  best.  They 
came  from  Europe,  contemporaries  of  Murillo,  Ribera,  the 
Caracci,  trained  in  the  splendid  Renaissance  period  at  its 
acme,  and  they  left  here  works  which  do  it  no  discredit. 
Mexico  was  a  hundred  years  old  ah'eady,  and  it  was  high 
time  that  art  should  arise  when  Baltazar  Echave  began, 
somewhat  after  the  year  1600.  There  is  a  romantic  tra- 
dition that  it  was  his  wife  who  first  taught  him  to  paint. 

The  genius  of  this  early  school  is  very  decorative,  and 
marked  at  once  by  refinement  of  sentiment,  breadth,  and 
vigor.  It  delights  in  rich  stuffs  and  patterns,  in  the 
glitter  of  plate  and  weapons.  It  fills  up  all  portions  of 
the  canvas  symmetrically,  and  colors  with  a  subdued 
richness.     I   recall  a   St,  Ildefonso,  by  Luis  Juarez,  as 

6 


122         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

an  exquisite  work.  The  saint,  in  a  rich  red  mantle,  by 
a  praying-desk  and  chair,  both  draped  in  the  same  color, 
is  receiving  from  angels  the  paraphernalia  of  a  bishop. 
The  mantle  of  the  nearest  angel  is  in  bnrnt  sienna,  and 
these  warm  red  hues,  relieved  by  cool  whites,  are  repeated 
throughout.  There  is  a  group  of  six  angel  heads  com- 
posed in  an  ellipse,  and,  in  the  air,  a  Virgin,  with  that 
bevy  of  fluttering  angels  about  that  take  the  place  of 
clouds  in  landscape.  The  minor  heads,  painted  chiefly 
from  the  same  model,  are  full  of  sweetness  and  intelli- 
gence. 

Arteaga  has  a  noble  St.  Thomas;  Jose  Juarez,  a  quaint 
couple  of  child  martyrs.  Saints  Justo  and  Pastor,  who 
trudge  along  hand-in-hand  like  a  pair  of  burgomaster's 
children  (the  scenes  of  their  martyrdom  shown  in  the 
background),  while  angels  rain  down  upon  them  single 
pinks,  roses,  and  forget-me-nots,  carefully  painted.  A 
younger  Baltazar  Echave,  and  Juan  and  Nicolas  Rodri- 
guez, are  of  almost  equal  force. 

A  second  period  begins  with  Ibarra  and  Cabrera — the 
latter  very  much  the  better — at  the  end  of  the  same  cen- 
tury. They  are  without  the  same  distinction.  Their 
figures  have  a  bourgeois  air.  They  aim  to  be  pictorial 
instead  of  decorative.  The  crude  red  and  blue  garments 
with  which  we  are  monotonously  familiar  in  religious  art 
come  in  with  them ;  and  the  draperies,  in  smooth,  large 
folds,  are  apparently  made  up  out  of  their  heads. 

The  foreign  gallery  boasts  many  excellent  works  of  the 
school  of  Murillo,  and  an  original  each  of  Murillo,  E.i- 
bera,  Carrerio,  Leonardo  da  Vinci,  Teniers  the  elder,  and 
Ingres,  with  also  probable  Vandycks  and  Rembrandts. 

A  collection  has  also  been  formed  of  works  of  merit, 
contributed  to  the  regular  biennial  exhibitions,  and  pur- 
chased  by  the  Academy  to  illustrate   modern   Mexican 


THE  FINE  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE.  125 

art.  The  religions  tradition  still  prevails  to  a  large  extent, 
though  the  subjects  are  now  taken  from  the  Scriptures 
instead  of  the  Bollandists.  They  are  Hagar  and  Islnnael, 
the  good  Samaritan,  the  Hebrews  by  the  waters  of  Baby- 
lon, and  Noah  receiving  the  olive-branch,  and  the  like. 

There  is  in  this  contemporary  work  the  general  fault 
of  an  over-delicacy  and  smoothness  of  painting,  and  a  lack 
of  realism,  while  the  design  is  excellent.  These  voyagers 
in  the  ark  have  not  experienced  the  woes  of  a  deluge, 
and  the  shepherds  have  the  complexion  of  Lady  Vere  do 
Vere.  Rebull,  who  studied  at  Rome  under  Overbeck, 
repeats  here  the  dove -colors,  violets,  and  lemon -yellows 
of  the  modern  decorations  of  the  Vatican  done  under 
that  school. 

The  works  of  the  latest  period,  under  the  able  direc- 
tion of  Senor  Salome  Pina,  a  pupil  of  Gleyre,  are  much 
more  virile,  and  the  subjects  more  secular.  We  have 
now  Bacchus  and  Ariadne ;  the  death  of  Atala ;  the  slay- 
ing of  the  sons  of  Niobe ;  an  arch  and  dainty  Cupid  poi- 
soning a  flower,  by  Ocaranza;  a  charming  fisher-boy,  by 
Gutierrez.  Some  of  the  artists  have  had  the  advantage 
of  study  also  abroad.  The  strongest  of  them  all,  Felix 
Parra,  now  enjoying  a  grand  prize  of  Komo,  produced 
the  masterpiece,  a  great  canvas  representing  the  friar 
Las  Casas  protecting  the  Aztecs  (from  slaughter  by  the 
Spaniards)  —  a  work  in  sentiment,  drawing,  and  color 
worthy  to  hang  in  any  exhibition  in  the  world — before 
he  had  seen  any  other  country  than  his  own. 

Yelasco  has  set  a  powerful  lead  in  landscape.  He  is 
especially  a  master  of  great  distance.  His  favorite  theme 
is  the  curious,  sienna-colored  Valley  of  Mexico,  which  he 
paints  to  the  life. 

There  are  some  scattered  works  of  the  early  school, 
besides,  in  the  houses  of  a  few  dilettanti  at  the  capital 


126         OLD   MEXICO   AND  HER  LOST  lUiOVINCES. 

and  Puebla ;  and  some  few  in  the  cathedrals  of  the  same 
|)hices,  though  scarcely  to  be  seen,  from  their  disadvan- 
tageous positions.  Good  pictures  need  not  be  looked  for 
ill  the  churches.  No  doubt  they  were  once  numerous, 
but  they  have  been  sacked  from  the  country  by  invaders 
and  others,  and  found  a  profitable  market  abroad. 


II. 

In  sculpture  there  is  talent  corresponding  to  that  in 
painting.  The  stately  system  of  burial,  in  the^xmfcw?.?, 
lends  itself  to  sculpture  and  furnishes  opportunities  which 
with  us  are  relegated  to  the  commonplace  tombstone- 
makers.  The  j^frnfeo?*-  is  a  solid  city  of  the  dead,  walled 
in,  paved,  and  with  courts  and  arcades  like  a  city  of  the 
living.  The  monument  of  greatest  note  is  that,  by  Man- 
uel Islas,  at  the  Pantheon  of  San  Fernando,  to  Benito 
Jnarez,  "the  second  Washington"  of  his  country,  old 
Padre  Hidalgo  having  been  the  first.  His  effigy  in 
marble,  so  realistic  and  corpse-like  that  it  seems  to  have 
been  modelled  from  an  actual  cast  in  plaster,  lies  upon 
a  mausoleum,  with  a  figure  of  Fame  bending  over  it. 
The  realism  of  the  principal  figure  is  almost  repulsive, 
but  it  is  redeemed  by  the  grace  of  the  angel,  and  no- 
body can  deny  to  tiiis  large  work  great  vigor  and  dignity. 

The  bodies  are  not  buried,  but  sealed  up  in  mausolea, 
or  in  niches  in  a  wall,  which  present  somewhat  the  aspect 
of  a  Roman  columbarium.  Some  of  the  monuments  are 
of  the  lovely  Mexican  onyx,  with  letters  in  gilt.  I  noted 
one  bearing  only  the  initials  M.  M.  They  were  alluring 
to  the  curiositj',  and  on  inquiring  I  found  that  it  was  that 
of  Miramon,  general-in-chief  of  Maximilian,  who  fell  by 
the  executioners'  bullets,  with  his  master,  and  General 
Mejia,  at  Queretero. 


THE  FINE  ARTS  AND   LITERATURE.  127 

Tlierc  were  tio  tlowers  ou  this  one  to-d;iy,  but  the 
tombs  of  the  patriots  were  elaborately  decked,  for  it  was 
the  great  festival  of  the  Cinco  de  Mayo. 

I  walked  out  and  stood  in  the  round -point  by  the 
colossal  bronze  statue  of  Charles  lY.  The  Paseo  de  la 
Reforma  and  the  causeways  glittered  with  bayonets ;  the 
cadets  were  coming  down  from  the  Military  School  back 
of  Chapultepec,  and  the  garrison  from  the  Citadel,  to  join 
in  the  procession.  The  troops  were  reviewed  in  front  of 
the  National  Palace — as  troops  in  smaller  numbers  seem 
always  being  reviewed  there.  They  are  mainly  of  Indian 
blood,  and  small  in  stature.  The  cavalry  especially  had 
a  rusty  look  in  their  outfit,  and  did  not  compare  with  the 
dashing  Rurales.  The  officers,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
trimly  uniformed  and  quite  French  in  aspect.  There 
were  patriotic  speeches  in  the  Zocalo ;  the  main  thorough- 
fare was  strung  with  lanterns  ;  and  our  Iturbide  hotel  was 
very  picturesque,  with  its  three  tiers  of  balconies  draped 
in  the  national  colors — green,  white,  and  red. 

From  time  to  time,  as  the  procession  moved,  cannon 
were  fired  in  the  Plaza,  and  the  bells  of  the  cathedral 
turned  over  and  over,  like  the  wheels  of  machinery.  I 
never  saw  a  better-conducted  crowd.  There  was  no  fight- 
ing, no  inconvenient  elbowing,  no  drunkenness.  In  the 
evening  the  lanterns  were  lighted,  and  the  great  square 
was  filled  with  venders  of  fruits  and  knickknacks,  around 
little  bonfires  of  sticks,  where  they  would  bivouac  for  the 
night.  Later,  red  lights  were  kindled  in  the  towers  of 
the  cathedral,  and  every  detail  within  stood  out  upon  a 
lurid  ground  as  if  they  were  burning.  One  could  imag- 
ine the  camped  venders  in  the  square  to  be  the  ancient 
Aztecs  resting  upon  their  arms,  in  order  to  attack  Cortez 
in  his  quarters  on  the  morrow. 


128         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


III. 

Scarcely  the  same  improvement  is  to  be  got  from  Mex- 
ican literature  as  from  Mexican  art,  but  it  is  not  without 
its  interest,  both  in  itself  and  as  an  aid  to  knowledge  of 
the  people. 

Journals  are  very  numerous.  They  are  started  upon 
slight  provocation,  and  as  easily  disappear.  They  attain, 
as  a  rule,  but  a  circulation  of  a  few  hundred  copies.  It 
is  thought  that  the  Monitor  Bepuhlicano,  by  far  the  most  [j 
important,  may  circulate  from  six  to  eight  thousand.  The 
problem  of  existence  for  many  of  them  would  be  diffi- 
cult without  government  aid.  Subventions  are  given, 
without  public  objection,  so  far  as  I  have  observed,  to 
the  greater  part  of  those  managed  with  ability.  The 
83'stem  of  subventions  to  the  press  was  begun  by  our  old 
friend  of  school  history,  Santa  Anna,  and  has  been  con- 
tinued ever  since  by  governments  which  could  not  afford 
to  have  anything  more  than  the  truth  told  about  them, 
at  any  rate.  It  is  an  encouraging  sign,  however,  that  the 
Monitor  is  not  a  subventioned  organ,  yet  speaks  its  mind 
temperately  and  without  apparent  malice. 

There  is  no  efficacious  law  of  libel,  since  extreme  vio- 
lence of  language  is  often  indulged  in  by  the  periodicals 
in  their  controversies  with  each  other  and  outsiders.  The 
duel,  which  still  survives,  is  somewhat  of  a  corrective 
upon  this.  The  newspaper  is  about  such  a  one  in  appear- 
ance as  at  Paris,  and  includes  a  daily  section  of  a  serial 
story.  A  Sunday  edition  is  published,  with  literary  selec- 
tions, and  particularly  poems,  in  large  supply. 

Actual  literature  as  such  is  poorly  paid.  The  reading 
public  is  small.  A  thousand  copies  is  a  good  edition  even 
for  a  popular  book.     The  chief  literary  lights  are  found. 


THE  FINE  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE.  129 

as  a  rule,  not  of  tlie  shy,  scholastic  order,  but  possessed  of 
talent  for  oratory  and  bustling  affairs.  They  take  posts 
in  Congress,  and  are  appointed  as  cabinet  ministers. 
General  Riva  Palacio,  Juan  Mateos,  Prieto,  Paz,  Altimi- 
rano,  Justo  Sieri-a,  Peza,  are  deputies;  Payno,  a  senator; 
Cuellar,  who  wrote  under  the  pseudonym  of  "  Facundo,"  a 
secretary  of  legation.  These  are  the  native  writers  whose 
works  are  more  frequently  in  the  hands  of  the  public 
than  any  others. 

Prieto,  who  is  chiefly  a  poet,  liowever,  lias  written  a 
book  of  his  travels  in  the  United  States,  in  which  some 
amusing  things  will  be  discovered.  He  tinds  that  with 
ns  "the  totality  \lo  colectivo]  is  grand  and  admirable,  but 
the  individual  egoistic  and  vnlgar."  He  saw  Booth's 
Theatre,  which  is  all  of  white  marble  {el  Teatro  de  Both, 
todo  de  marmol  hlanco);  and,  besides  our  hotels,  the  es- 
tablishment which  we  call  a  "Boarding"  {el  Boarding). 
The  Hudson  and  East  rivers,  he  says,  are  two  arms  of  the 
sea,  which  freeze  in  winter,  and  even  the  immense  quan- 
tity of  ice  collected  from  these  does  not  suffice  for  the 
demands  of  the  summer. 

The  poetical  talent,  of  which  we  had  a  premonition  in 
Cuba,  is  that  which  principally  abounds.  There  is  plen- 
tiful skill  in  versifying,  with  here  and  there  a  strain 
of  something  very  much  higher,  in  the  volumes  of  the 
numerous  authors.  Prieto,  above-mentioned,  is  found 
principally  a  poet  of  "  occasions."  He  writes  for  the 
unveiling  of  statues,  to  steam,  electricity,  and  the  like. 
Juan  Mateos  strikes  a  fierce  patriotic  note.  Altimirano, 
a  iiery  Indian  orator,  who  models  himself  in  Congress 
rather  after  Mirabeau,  chooses  as  his  themes  for  poetry 
bees,  oranges,  poppies,  morn,  the  pleasures  of  rural  life. 
They  are  excellent  subjects  in  themselves,  but  it  is  an 
artificial,  and   not   a    real,  existence   he   describes.      He 

6* 


130         01J>   MEXICO   ANT)   HER  LOST  PROVIXCER 

would  like  to  l)e  Iloratiaii,  sutnmoiis  nymphs  to  disport 
with  him  in  the  shade,  and  abounds  in  florid  terms,  with- 
out thought. 

Carpio  is  inspired  more  or  less  by  Biblical  subjects,  as 
Pharaoh  and  Belshazzar.  In  De  Castro,  Zaragoza,  Gus- 
tave  Baz,  and  Cuenca  are  found  charming  conceits,  of 
pensive  cast,  and  bits  of  description  of  a  limpid  purity. 
Jewellers  in  words  they  may  be  called  at  their  best,  affil- 
iated to  the  Venetian  school. 

The  argument  of  Zaragoza's  "  Armonias"  (Harmonies) 
is  briefly  as  follows :  "  When  the  flowers  are  dead,  and 
spring  is  over,  the  swallows  take  their  flight ;  and  when 
again  the  flowers  of  spring  adorn  the  mead,  they,  too, 
return,  bringin.g  blessings  on  their  wings. 

"  But  when  the  illusions  depart  and  leave  behind  them 
only  the  thorns  of  the  passions,  in  vain  we  invoke  and 
wait  for  them  to  return.  The  illusions,  the  swallows  of 
the  heart,  return,  alas  !  never." 

So  Gustave  Baz,  brooding  in  the  sere  winter  over  some 
heavy  sorrow,  reflects  upon  the  return  of  spring.  But 
the  very  contrast  of  its  joyousness,  the  fresh  rippling  of 
the  brooks  and  melody  of  the  birds,  will  but  render  his 
sadness  the  heavier.  "  Then  most  keenly,"  he  laments, 
"  W'ill  break  forth  my  grief.  Then  weightiest  will  the 
air  be  laden  with  my  sighs." 

The  gem  of  the  Lyra  Mexicana  is  undoubtedly  a  cer- 
tain fugitive  sonnet,  "  A  Bosario,"  by  an  unfortunate 
young  man,  Acuna,  who  ended  by  taking  his  own  life. 
The  poem  expresses  the  charming  ideals  in  love  and  the 
bitterness  of  its  disappointment,  in  a  3'outh  of  fine  and 
sensitive  nature.  It  has  a  poignancy  and  realism  which 
have,  perhaps,  never  been  surpassed.  lie  returned  from 
a  long  journey,  as  the  story  is  told,  and  found  his  be- 
trothed the  wife  of  another.     The  shock  proving  imen- 


THE  FINE  ARTS  AND    LITERATURE.  131 

durable,  he   committed  suicide,  leaving  to  the  faithless 
one  the  poem,  a  part  of  which  may  be  thus  rendered : 

"Well,  then,  I  have  to  say  that  I  love  j'ou  still,  that  I 
worsliip  you  with  all  my  being.  I  comprehend  that  your 
kisses  are  never  to  be  mine,  that  into  your  dear  eyes  I  am 
never  to  look.  .  .  .  Sometimes  I  try  to  sink  you  into  ob- 
livion, to  execrate  you,  .  .  .  But  alas,  how  vain  it  is!  my 
soul  will  not  forget  you.  What  will  you,  then,  that  I 
should  do,  oh,  part  of  my  life  ?  What  will  you  that  I 
should  do  with  such  a  heart?  .  .  .  Oh,  figure  to  yourself 
how  beautiful  might  have  been  our  existence  together ! 
.  .  .  But  now  that  to  the  entrancing  dream  succeeds  the 
black  gulf  that  has  opened  between  us — farewell !  love 
of  my  loves,  light  of  my  darkness,  perfume  of  all  flowers 
that  bloomed  for  me !  my  poet's  lyre,  my  youth,  fare- 
well !" 

IV. 

If  one  try  to  select  the  most  obvious  trait  in  the  na- 
tive fiction  it  is  undoubtedly  patriotism.  This  patriotism 
is  rampant  in  the  press,  and  in  the  forms  of  official  life. 
The  authorities  are  Citizen  President,  Citizen  General, 
and  the  like,  as  in  the  first  French  Republic,  and  they 
conclude  their  official  documents  with  the  formula: 
"  Liberty  In  The  Constitution."  The  usurpation  of 
Maximilian  served  to  bind  the  country  into  a  certain 
unity  and  awake  this  feeling  to  its  utmost. 

Two  romancers,  General  Riva  Palacio,  and  Juan  Ma- 
teos,  have  made  use  of  the  events  of  the  French  invasion 
in  a  curious  class  of  bulky  novels,  to  call  them  so, 
which  have  scored  a  popular  success.  "  The  Hill  of  Las 
Campafias,"  and  "  The  Sun  of  May,"  of  Mateos,  are  re- 
spectively more  or  less  authentic  accounts  of  the  final 
defeat  and  execution  of  Maximilian,  and  the  defence  of 


I 


132  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Pnebla,  slightly  disguised.  In  "  Calvary  and  Tabor," 
Riva  Palacio  treats  of  the  career  of  the  Army  of  the 
Centre  in  the  same  wars.  Numbers  of  the  characters 
therefore  are  persons  actually  living,  to  be  met  with 
every  day,  which  gives  to  this  fiction  a  singular  effect. 

Thus,  in  "  El  Sol  de  Mayo,"  Manuel  Payno,  Altamira- 
no,  and  Riva  Palacio  himself  are  mentioned  and  their 
manners  described  in  the  debate  on  the  financial  measure 
which  brought  on  the  Intervention.  Lerdo,  long  since  an 
exile,  resident  in  New  York,  was  at  that  time  '■^  el  pro- 
feta  insjpirada  de  nuestra  nacionalidad''''  (the  inspired 
prophet  of  our  nationality). 

I  pick  out  from  the  same  book  this  paragraphic  men- 
tion of  our  own  civil  war:  "And  Edmundo  Lee  shone 
like  a  star  in  the  victories  of  Springfield  and  Bull  Run." 
Perhaps  the  friends  of  General  Robert  E.  Lee  would 
have  some  difficulty  in  recognizing  him  under  such  a 
"description. 

These  novels  are  printed  with  each  sentence  as  a  sepa- 
rate paragraph,  for  easier  reading.  They  first  began  to 
rival  somewhat  the  popular  Fernandez  y  Gonzalez,  by 
some  called  "  the  Spanish  Dumas,"  whose  works  are 
printed  in  the  journals,  together  with  translations  of  those 
of  Gaboriau  and  Dickens.  Another  flimsy  series,  in 
covers  of  green,  white,  and  red,  called  '•'' Episodios  Ncb- 
cionales^''  aim  to  sugar-coat  a  didactic  exhibition  of  the 
events  of  the  War  of  Independance.  One  individual 
after  another  tells  a  long,  dreary  narrative  about  what 
happened  ;  these  fall  in  with  somebody  else  who  tells 
more,  and  so  it  goes. 

These  stories  are  read  chiefly  by  the  middle  and  lower 
classes,  the  upper  class,  as  in  most  provincial  states  of  so- 
ciety, preferring  books  from  abroad.  Their  favorable 
reception  may  be  accounted  for  in  part  by  the  lack  of 


THE  FINE  ARTS  AND  LITERATURE.  133 

regular  histories  and  of  newspaper  intelligence,  so  that 
the  populace  may  to  some  extent  be  getting  their  infor- 
mation for  the  first  time. 

Riva  Palacio  has  written  also,  with  Manuel  Payno,  a 
large  work  appropriately  called  El  Libra  Rojo  (The  Kcd 
Book).  It  gives  an  account  (and  graphic  illustrations) 
of  the  heroes  and  other  notables  in  Mexican  history  who 
have  come  to  violent  ends.  This  is  a  fate  that  has  over- 
taken aspirants  to  distinction  quite  regularly,  and  the 
plates  from  the  book,  hung  up  at  the  book-stalls  in  the 
Portales,  are  a  ghastly  chamber  of  horrors.  The  three 
jBghting  curates  of  the  early  insurrection,  Hidalgo,  More- 
los,  and  Matamoras  begin  the  series;  and  Maximilian, 
Mejia,  and  Miramon,  standing  with  bandaged  eyes  at  the 
Hill  of  las  Campanas,  for  the  present  conclude  it. 

Several  minor  writers  have  feebly  essayed  the  Aztec 
material  for  fiction.  Riva  Palacio  has  availed  himself 
also  of  the  picturesque  life  under  the  Spanish  viceroys. 
Of  him  it  is  to  be  said  that,  though  of  the  sensational 
school,  and  careless  in  plan,  he  has,  not  unfrequently, 
passages  of  genuine  force,  and  unhackneyed  incidents 
that  enchain  the  attention. 


134         OLD   MEXICO   AND   II KR   LOST  PROVINCES. 


XI. 

SOME  TRAITS  OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  AND   THE 
MEXICAN  ''WARWICK:' 

I. 

It  would  seem  that  history  in  Mexico  might  be  a  some- 
what confusing  study ;  and  so,  in  fact,  it  is.  There  have 
been  fifty-four  Presidents,  one  regency,  and  one  Emperor, 
in  fifty-six  years,  and  a  violent  change  of  government 
witli  nearly  every  one. 

Picking  up  the  little  volume  by  Manuel  Payno,  used 
in  the  schools,  and  opening  it  at  random,  I  find — 

"  Question. — What  events  followed  ? 

^''Answer. — Truly  imagination  is  lost,  and  memory  con- 
founds itself,  among  so  many  plans  and  'pronunciamien- 
tos;  but  we  will  follow  the  thread  as  best  w^e  can." 

The  period  referred  to  is  that  of  the  revolt  of  Texas, 
which  proceeded  to  constitute  itself  "The  Lone  Star  Re- 
public." Looking  a  little  farther  with  interest  to  see  how 
this  is  accounted  for,  we  find  : 

"  The  settlers  were  North  Ainericans,  a  portion,  as  we 
have  said,  colonized  by  Stephen  Austin,  They  set  up 
the  pretext  that  they  were  not  permitted  to  sell  their 
lands,  and,  later,  that  the  Federal  Constitution  had  been 
violated  ;  and  they  rose  against  the  Government.  The 
latter  felt  it  necessary  to  put  down  the  rebellion,  and 
took  measures  to  assail  that  remote  and  sterile  State." 

These  dispositions,  as  we  know,  ended  in  the  defeat  and 
capture  of  Santa  Anna  at  San  Jacinto.     There  is  always  a 


SOME   TRAITS   OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.        135 

fascination  in  being  behind  the  scenes,  and  I  confess  tliat 
this  little  opportunity  of  finding  out  what  was  tiiought 
of  itself  b}'  a  country  which  has  jarred  so  much  with  our 
own  was  one  of  the  attractions  of  being  in  Mexico.  The 
Anjcrican  war  is  accounted  for  as  a  wicked  attempt  to 
sustain  and  annex  the  revolted  province  of  Texas;  and 
equally  good  solutions  are  found  for  the  various  other 
invasions  by  foreign  powers. 

What!  is  there  no  absolute  right?  Are  all  combatants 
alike  striking  for  their  altars  and  their  fires,  and  resisting 
wanton  aggression  ?  Will  not  these  Mexicans  even  yet 
admit,  though  beaten,  and  though  it  has  passed  into  his- 
torj^  that  they  terrorized  our  frontier,  and  oppressed  an 
industrious  and  enterprising  province?  Why,  then,  per- 
haps both  sides  were  wrong;  and  let  us  aspire  for  the 
day  when  all  such  quarrels  may  be  settled  by  an  interna- 
tional arbitration. 

II. 

The  young  Mexican  learns  first  about  his  Aztec  ances- 
try, the  mild  semi -civilized  aborigines,  who  built  cities 
and  temples,  and  were  ruled  by  luxurious  Montezuma  and 
scholarly  Nezhualcoyotl.  The  latter,  at  Texcoco,  was  a 
maker  of  verses  and  stoical  maxims  like  another  Marcus 
Aurelius. 

Cortez  conquered  the  Aztecs  in  1519.  Then  followed 
a  government  of  nearly  three  hundred  years  by  sixty-four 
Spanish  viceroys.  A  rebellion,  of  eleven  years'  duration, 
marked  by  many  of  tli(?  features  of  a  servile  uprising, 
drove  out  the  Spaniards  in  1821.  Grasping  and  incon- 
siderate in  their  colonial  management  as  their  w\ay  has 
always  been,  the  Spaniards  had  probably  only  themselves 
to  thank  for  it. 

Iturbide,  who  commanded  the  revolt  at  the  end,  made 


136  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

liimself  briefly  Einperor.  Ilis  generals,  notably  the  irre- 
pressible Santa  Anna,  who  first  here  conies  into  view, 
rose  against  him,  and  proclaimed  a  Federal  Republic. 
Santa  Anna,  when  the  opportunity  offered,  made  himself 
Dictator,  and  changed  the  Federal  Republic  to  a  central- 
ized republic,  and  the  states  to  departments.  Santa 
Anna  had  numberless  ups  and  downs,  having  obtained 
possession  of  the  supreme  power  no  less  than  six  times, 
with  intervals  of  overthrow  and  banishment. 

The  Federal  Republic  was  reconstituted  in  time,  with 
twenty-seven  states,  one  territory  and  a  federal  district, 
pretty  much  on  the  model  of  our  own,  and  it  still  re- 
tains this  form,  as  it  is  likely  to.  There  is  no  doubt 
about  the  democratic  tendency  of  the  people,  but  perhaps 
it  is  something  in  the  impulsive  blood  of  the  Latin  race 
which  has  prevented  the  leaders  from  conceiving  a  repub- 
lic on  the  Anglo-Saxon  plan.  They  have  been  inspired 
almost  without  exception  by  a  craving  for  the  sweets  of 
power.  Their  rampant  patriotism  has  been  like  the  re- 
ligion of  those  persons  who  would  die  for  a  cause,  but  will 
not  live  in  accordance  with  the  least  of  its  dictates.  There 
seems  to  have  been  no  conception  until  lately  of  that 
larger  patriotism  which  educates  the  people  in  their  du- 
ties, and  constitutes  a  state  of  society  where  the  rights  of 
all  are  guaranteed  and  people  go  about  their  avocations 
without  interference. 

III. 

AVould  you  recall,  by-the-way,  what  became  of  Santa 
Anna  ?  He,  who  had  so  indignantly  shaken  off  the  yoke 
of  Iturbide,  wrote  a  missive  of  congratulation,  while  liv- 
ing in  banishment  in  the  "West  Indies,  to  Maximilian,  and 
endeavored  to  take  service  under  him.  His  aid  was  re- 
jected, whereupon   he  turned   to  Juarez,  only   to  be  re- 


"SOME  TRAITS   OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.       137 

pulsed  again.  In  a  rage  at  both  sides,  he  fitted  out  an 
expedition  on  his  own  account,  landed  in  the  country,  and 
was  well-nigh  being  shot,  after  the  model,  and  almost  on 
the  same  ground,  as  that  Iturbide  whom  he  had  pro- 
nounced against  forty-two  years  before.  The  court-mar- 
tial, however,  spared  his  life,  "in  consideration  of  the 
ancient  services  done  to  his  country  in  Texas,  at  Tam- 
pico,  and  Vera  Cruz,"  and  sent  him  again,  superannuated 
and  poor  (for  he  had  squandered  an  ample  fortune  in  this 
attempt),  to  finish  his  days  in  banishment. 

I  cannot  forbear  going  a  little  farther  into  the  ques- 
tions and  answers  of  the  little  history.  Of. the  gallant 
generals  who  fought  so  well  for  the  Independence,  Vic- 
toria was  the  first  President.  Bravo  pronounced  against 
him,  and  was  exiled  to  South  America.  Guerrero,  de- 
feated as  a  candidate  for  the  succession  by  Pedraza,  took 
up  arms  and  seized  it  by  force.  He  repelled,  while  in 
oftice,  a  new  attempt  by  the  Spaniards  to  recover  the 
country. 

"  Question. — I  suppose  that  with  this  triumph  the  gov- 
ernment of  Guerrero  was  firmly  established? 

'"''Answer. — This  was  to  have  been  hoped,  but  that 
happened  which  always  happens  in  Mexico — just  the 
contrary." 

Bustameute,  in  fact,  pronounced  against  Guerrero;  and 
when  the  latter  would  have  returned  to  the  capital  from 
an  expedition  designed  to  put  down  the  revolt,  he  found 
it  closed  against  him,  and  in  favor  of  Bustamente  also. 

"  Q- — What  end  had  this  revolution  ? 

"^. — The  most  terrible  that  can  be  imagined.  The 
Government  at  Mexico,  feeling  that  it  could  not  over- 
come Guerrero  .  .  .  bought  over,  for  $70,000,  a  Geno- 
ese named  Picaluga,  wdio  commanded  a  vessel  anchored 
in  the  harbor  of  Acapulco.     Picaluga  invited  Guerrero 


138  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

to  dine  on  boai-d,  and  this  manifestation  of  liospitalit}'^ 
was  accepted  in  good  faitli.  WJien  tliey  had  dined  the 
Genoese  signified  to  Guerrero  tliat  he  was  a  prisoner,  and 
set  sail  with  him  to  tlie  port  of  Iluatulco  and  delivered 
him  into  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  This  great  and 
good  man,  valiant  and  worthy  of  the  respect  and  grati- 
tude of  the  nation  .  .  .  was  shot  in  the  pueblo  of  Cui- 
hipa,  on  the  15th  of  February,  1831." 

It  was  not  till  1848,  for  the  first  time,  that  the 
Presidency  was  transferred  without  violence,  and  under 
the  law.  The  incumbent  was  General  Herrera,  and  he 
was  succeeded  peaceably  by  General  Arista.  These  two 
administrations  "will  forever  place  themselves  before 
historians,  both  Mexican  and  foreign,"  says  the  history 
"as  models  of  honor,  economy,  and  order."  But  Arista 
was  deposed  in  two  years,  and  in  the  next  three  months 
there  were  four  Presidents,  the  last  of  them  Santa  Anna, 
on  one  of  his  periodic  returns. 

Thus  the  turmoil  of  revolutions  has  continued  down 
to  recent  times.  A  certain  Don  Jose  Maria  Gutierrez 
Estrada  directed  a  letter  to  the  authorities  in  1840,  pro- 
posing, as  a  measure  of  relief,  that  a  monarchical  gov- 
ernment should  be  established  in  Mexico;  and  the  idea,  in 
the  distracting  state  of  things  we  have  seen,  cannot  be 
considered  wholly  without  reason.  It  caused  great  scan- 
dal nevertheless,  but  Gutierrez  Estrada  stuck  to  it  tena- 
ciously, and,  by  a  very  singular  coincidence,  he  was  one 
of  those  who,  twenty-four  years  after,  went  to  Miramar 
to  present  the  imperial  crown  to  the  Archduke  Max- 
imilian. 

If  1  cite  a  number  of  such  events  from  the  past  it  is 
not  for  the  purpose  of  being  disagreeable  or  arguing 
that  the  same  state  of  things  is  to  last.  It  is  partly 
because  they  are  amusing,  and  partly  to  obtain  a  more 


SOME   TRAITS   OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.       139 

encouragint^  point  of  view  for  the  present.  It  will  be 
seen  that  the  later  administrations,  though  not  without 
their  faults,  are  a  vast  improvement  upon  their  predeces- 
sors, and  do  not  constitute  a  declining  ratio. 


GENERAL    POUFIRIO    DIAZ,   EX-PRESIDEN'T    OF    MEXICO. 


General  Porfii-io  Diaz  occupied  unmolested  a  full  term, 
from  1870  to  1880,  and  handed  over  the  place  to  General 
Manuel  Gonzales,  who  holds  it  at  present  in  the  same 
security.  Diaz  began  the  current  career  of  improvement 
by  his  liberal  chartering  of  railroads,  and  Gonzales  fol- 
lows in  his  track.  Both  must  be  considered  to  have 
made  a  most  exemplary  and  promising  use  of  their 
powers.  But,  since  we  have  arrived  at  "Don  Porfi- 
rio,"  let  us  see  how  he  entered  upon  office  in  the  be- 
gin nine:. 


140         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  FROVINCES. 


IV. 

Since  he  is,  by  general  admission,  the  power  behind  the 
throne,  the  Mexican  "  Warwick,"  the  President  who  has 
been,  is,  and  is  to  be,  let  ns  inquire  a  little  also  who  he 
was.  "  His  influence  in  the  country,"  says  the  llonitor, 
"  is  decisive,  incontestable.  Something  more  than  Ben- 
itez  in  the  past,  he  is  not  only  the  great  commoner,  but 
the  one  man  of  the  present." 

Porfirio  Diaz  was  born  in  Oaxaca,  in  1830.  His  family 
destined  him  for  the  law,  but  he  took  to  soldiering  in- 
stead. Beginning  as  a  private,  he  entered  the  city  of 
Mexico  as  general-in-chief  of  the  forces  which  wrested  it 
from  the  French.  Once  in  these  wars,  when  a  prisoner 
at  Puebla,  he  let  himself  down  by  a  rope  from  a  tower  and 
made  his  escape.  His  career  is  studied  with  romantic  in- 
cidents, but  the  career  of  what  Mexican  leader  is  not? 

The  Latin  race  admires  the  military  type,  and  "Don 
Porfirio,"  or  more  familiarly  "  Porfirio,"  as  the  people  de- 
light to  call  him,  bethought  him  to  turn  his  prestige  in  the 
field  to  account.  He  offered  himself  for  the  Presidency 
against  Juarez,  on  the  platform  of  no  re-election,  in  1871. 
Lerdo  de  Tejada,  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court,  was 
also  in  the  field  as  a  third  candidate.  By  the  Mexican 
system  one  elector  is  supposed  to  be  chosen  for  each  dis- 
trict of  five  hundred  inhabitants.  In  actual  practice  the 
bulk  of  the  inhabitants  hardly  know  when  the  election 
takes  place,  and  the  electors  represent  scarcely  more  than 
themselves  of  the  12,361  votes  of  the  electoral  college 
thus  constituted.  Juarez  received  5837,  Diaz  3555,  Lerdo 
2874,  and  95  are  recorded  as  "scattering." 

"  Q. — Eelate  to  me  what  happened  thereafter. 

" JL. — General  Porfirio  Diaz  issued,  from  his  hacienda 
of  La  Noria,  a  manifesto,  hence  called  the  Plan  of  La 


SOME   TRAITS   OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.       141 

Nm'ia,  repudiating  the  existing  powers,  and  proposing  to 
retain  military  command  until  the  establishment  of  a  new 
order  of  things." 

A  bloody  war  of  more  than  a  year  followed,  in  which 
the  Porfiristas  were  utterly  routed.  Diaz,  amnestied,  pre- 
sented himself  at  the  capital,  and  was  affably  received 
by  Lerdo,  who  assured  him,  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment, that  he  might  live  tranquil  without  fear  of  perse- 
cution or  harm.  "JSTothing,"  breaks  forth  our  historian, 
in  enthusiasm  about  these  times,  "  gives  a  better  idea  of 
the  constancy  and  elevation  of  the  Mexican  character,  a 
heritage  from  its  Spanish  ancestry,  than  what  passes  in 
our  wars,  both  civil  and  foreign.  It  appears  that  defeats 
but  serve  as  stimulus  and  fresh  aliment  to  the  fray." 

Upon  what  possible  theory  these  ambitious  chiefs  have 
always  made  their  partisans  so  ready  to  be  slaughtered  for 
them,  is  a  speculation  which  I  shall  not  go  into.  Porfirio 
now  remained  quiet  till  1876,  when  he  issued  the  Plan  of 
Tuxte2)eG,  and  rose  against  Lerdo,  M'ho  had  succeeded 
Juarez.  He  captured  Matamoros  by  a  bold  stroke  of 
strategy ;  was  himself  captured  on  shipboard ;  and  es- 
caped from  the  Lerdists  by  leaping  into  the  sea,  through 
the  connivance  of  an  American  purser,  whom  he  after- 
ward made  consul  at  St.  ISTazaire.  After  a  series  of  such- 
like adventures  his  persistence  won  the  day,  and  Lerdo 
took  to  flight.  "  Don  Sebastian  "  Lerdo  is  spoken  of  as 
probably  the  most  scholarly  and  accomplished  President 
the  republic  ever  had.  He  had  been  a  school  -  master, 
however,  and  tried  to  govern  the  country  in  the  peda- 
gogue spirit  to  which  he  had  been  used.  He  lost  favor, 
too,  by  his  lack  of  military  talent,  and  fled  when  his  fort- 
unes were  by  no  means  desperate.  The  country  people 
were  strongly  on  his  side  at  first,  but  this  singular  thing 
happened  —  that,  finding    him    unable    to   protect   them 


142  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

against  tlie  roving  bands  of  revolutionists  favoring  Diaz, 
they  joined  them  in  disgust,  and  went  on*  with  them  to 
the  capital. 

It  is  upon  such  original  guarantees  that  the  authority 
which  Porfirio  has  devoted  to  the  extension  of  law  and 
order  and  the  benefits  of  civilization  reposes. 


V. 

The  subject  of  these  remarks  is  a  jDerson  neither  talk- 
ative nor  taciturn.  He  is  of  commanding  height,  a 
swarthy,  half- Indian  complexion,  a  figure  stalwart  but 
not  heavy,  and  of  a  military  yet  somewhat  nonchalant 
bearing,  all  of  which  may  form  a  part  of  his  attraction. 
He  knows  how  to  utilize  the  arts  of  peace  as  well  as 
war.  Perhaps  he  believes  a  little  in  the  motto,  "  Let  me 
make  the  songs  of  a  nation,  and  I  care  not  who  makes  its 
laws ;"  for  the  ballad-singers  at  Santa  Anita,  on  the  Viga 
Canal,  whither  the  populace  swarm  on  Sundays  to  indulge 
in  dancing,  j9?/Zy?<(',  taiaales,  and  flowers  from  the  floating 
gardens,  have  many  a  long-drawn  refrain  to  the  praises  of 
Don  Porfirio  Di-i-i-az,  It  is  hardly  fair,  perhaps,  to  sug- 
gest that  these  are  subsidized,  since  they  may  rest  upon 
pure  admiration  of  his  merits,  after  all. 

The  Mexican  law  prohibits  re-election,  except  after  an 
interval  of  four  years,  and  Porfirio  Diaz  was  too  ardent 
a  one-termer  to  be  able  to  overstep  this  prohibition  with 
any  consistency.  He  has  placed  his  friend  and  fellow- 
soldier  Gonzales  in  office  as  his  locum  tenens.  He  will 
assume  it  himself  for  the  next  term,  dating  from  1884. 
After  that — so  the  plan  is  supposed  to  be  arranged — he 
will  give  it  to  General  Treviiio,  his  companion  in  arms 
and  strong  auxiliary  in  his  pronunciamientos.  Treviiio 
has  married  the  daughter  of  an  American  general,  Ord, 


SOME   TRAITS   OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.        143 

and  it  may  be  supposed  that  American  interests  will  not 
suffer  in  his  hands. 

Porfirio  is  romantic  even  in  his  Machiavellianism. 
The  only  soui'ce  from  which  he  mijj^ht  have  had  any- 
thing to  fear  was  perhnps  a  lingering  Lerdist  sentiment. 


GENKRAL    MANUEL    GONZALES,   PllESIDENT    OF    MEXICO. 

It  represents,  or  represented,  a  conservative  element,  of 
better  social  position  than  the  rude  democratic  force  in 
power.  He  set  to  work  to  conciliate  this  Lerdist  senti- 
ment. He  has  been  able  to  take  of  late  the  effectual 
means  of  marrying  into  the  very  midst  of  it,  having 
chosen  for  his  third  wife  the  daughter  of  Senator  Ro- 
mero Rubio.  liumero  Ruljio  was  the  right-hand  man  of 
Lerdo,  and  his  companion  in  exile.  He  is  now  president 
of  the  Senate,  and  the  official  who  is  empowered  by  law 
to  call  and  control  a  new  election,  in  case  of  a  vacancy  in 


144:         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

the  Presidency  of  tlie  nation.  Gonzales  suffers  from  an 
old  wound,  received  at  Puebla,  and  it  has  been  thought 
by  some  that  Diaz  might  need  to  be  called  to  the  chair 
even  before  the  appointed  limit  of  time. 

Nor  could  he  have  had  any  personal  repugnance  to 
overcome  in  this  match.  His  usual  good-fortune  attends 
him.  The  young  lady  is  under  twenty,  accomplished, 
and  of  a  high-bred  air.  She  will  be  recollected  by  Amer- 
icans as  among  the  prettiest  of  the  belles  who  took  part 
in  the  round  of  festivities  given  in  honor  of  General 
Grant  at  his  last  visit.  This,  too,  will  be  pleasing  to  the 
people.  Don  Porfirio  means  that  the  people  shall  be 
pleased.  When  General  Grant,  on  his  first  visit  to  the 
country  in  his  tour  around  the  world,  was  the  curiosity 
and  hero  of  the  hour,  Porfirio  was  his  inseparable  at- 
tendant and  courteous  host.  A  certain  resemblance  was 
traced  between  them.  Both  had  been  illustrious  gener- 
als, both  presidents.  When  Grant  returned  a  second 
time,  and  was  now  less  popular,  on  account  of  his  inter- 
est in  the  railway  concessions,  and  a  jealousy  which  had 
meantime  arisen  of  American  aggression,  Don  Porfirio 
was  unfortunately  obliged  to  be  far  distant,  distributing 
charity  to  sufferers  on  tlie  northern  confines  of  th«  re- 
public. ' 

The  work  of  conciliation  has  long  been  going  on.  Old 
functionaries  have  been  reinstated  in  place;  veteran  army 
officers  have  been  approached  and  offered  new  commands. 
One  of  these  latter  told  me  that  President  Gonzales  had 
sent  for  him,  after  having  kept  an  espionage  on  his  con- 
duct for  some  time,  and  asked  him,  in  a  bluff  way, 

"  Why  do  you  continue  to  talk  against  the  Govern- 
ment, and  pass  your  time  in  idleness — you  who  were 
once  so  good  a  soldier?" 

"Sir,"  he  replied,  "you  know  my  sentiments,  and  the 


SOME   TRAITS   OF  PECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.       145 

cause  for  which  I  fonght.  I  cannot  deny  that  I  hold 
them  still.  I  take  the  consequences.  I  have  pawned 
my  valuables  and  clothing  for  food.  If  I  rust  in  idleness 
it  is  because  I  have  no  occupation  to  turn  to." 

"  I  admire  your  manliness,"  the  President  replied. 
"Here  is  your  appointment  to  the  command  of  a  regi- 
ment. Your  cause  is  dead,  as  you  know,  and  cannot  be 
revived.  I  ask  of  you  no  political  services.  I  ask  of 
you  only  to  be  as  before — a  soldier." 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  after  this  there  was  at  least 
one  Lerdist  the  less. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  finding  fault  with 
this  policy  of  astute  conciliation;  far  from  it.  The  ham- 
mer-and-tongs  method  has  been  so  long  in  vogue  that  it 
is  a  delightful  relief.  The  chicanery  of  matrimonial  al- 
liances, and  assumption  of  frank  and  soldierly  manners, 
will  be  welcomed  by  all  the  foreign  capital  in  the  coun- 
try as  a  great  improvement  upon  throat-cutting. 

From  vast  estates  in  Oaxaca,  w^hich  with  a  commend- 
able economy  he  has  amassed  meantime,  the  Mexican 
Warwick,  controls  the  destinies  of  his  country  with  an 
ease  like  moving  one's  little  finger.  He  pleases  himself 
in  tliB  interim  to  be  governor,  and  commander  of  the 
forces,  of  this  fighting  state.  In  the  absence  of  any 
eflScient  electoral  system  the  country  is  under  his  abso- 
lute dictatorship ;  while,  with  the  ostensible  division  of 
powers,  there  is  no  way  of  tracing  the  responsibility  to 
its  source. 

Not  that  there  is  the  least  danger  of  anybody's  trying 
to  do  so.  There  are  apparent  Brutuses  in  both  Houses 
of  Congress,  orators  and  poets  who  have  turned  off  many 
a  diatribe  and  many  an  ode  to  freedom  on  the  best  classic 
and  French  republican  models,  but  they  have  nothing  to 
say  against  this  Cffisar.     They  are  not  very  free  agents, 

7 


146  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

to  tell  tlie  truth.  They  are  really  sent  by  the  governors 
of  the  respective  states,  and  these  governors  have  been 
manipulated  in  advance.  Poi-iirio  can  undoubtedly  make 
threats  as  well  as  promises ;  and  an  unlucky  representa- 
tive, if  content  to  forego  a  better  place,  may  even  lose 
the  one  he  has.  He  cannot  depend  upon  adequate  sup- 
port, either,  should  he  have  a  notion  to  resist.  The 
"  boys  "  are  much  given  to  "  going  back  "  on  one  another 
in  Mexican  history. 

I  shall  be  found  fault  with  by  some  persons,  as  likely 
as  not,  for  undue  severity.  He  is  a  beneficent  Csesar, 
after  all,  compared  with  former  times;  he  has  brought 
back  something  like  a  Golden  Age ;  he  oppresses  nobody, 
at  least,  not  the  foreigners,  and  gives  a  stimulus  to  every 
worthy  enterprise. 

So  be  it ;  and  probably  there  is  no  more  genial  gov- 
ernment than  a  Csesarism  of  the  beneficent  sort,  fairly 
established.  But  it  is  too  full  of  dangers.  Porfirio  is 
doing  nothing  to  educate  the  nation.  "  In  effect,"  one 
of  his  own  papers  says  to  him,  "it  is  not  alone  with  rail- 
ways that  a  nation  so  disorganized  as  ours  can  reconsti- 
tute itself;  not  alone  the  locomotive  and  the  telegraph 
that  can  make  us  happy.  There  should  emanate  from 
the  regions  of  power  something  like  an  impulse  of  obedi- 
ence to  the  law  and  observance  of  the  institutions  upon 
which  the  social  and  political  well-being  of  the  country 
rests." 

It  is  not  probable  that  there  will  soon  again  be  serious 
disturbances.  "  All  the  grabbers  have  got  places,"  say 
some  critics  of  a  cynical  turn,  "  and  there  will  be  no  more 
revolutions."  A  better  saying,  however,  is  current:  "A 
bad  government  is  preferable  to  a  good  revolution." 
There  is  a  weariness  of  fighting.  The  country  seems  to 
savor  the  little-known   luxury  of  peace  with  a  positive 


SOME  TRAITS   OF  TECULIAR  HISTORY,  ETC.       117 

gusto.  The  railways  diminish  the  chance  of  trouble  by 
for  the  first  time  furnishing  ample  employment  to  the 
idle^  who  formerly  occupied  themselves  in  plunder  and 
were  ready  to  follow  the  banners  of  insurgent  chiefs. 
They  will  be  a  potent  military  engine  in  enabling  the 
Government  to  mass  its  forces  at  points  of  danger.  The 
fear,  too,  may  be  present  of  interference  by  foreign  gov- 
ernments, should  the  enterprises  of  their  citizens  be 
threatened  with  serious  damage  by  new  upheavals. 

Still,  there  are  great  administrative  abuses.  The  civil 
service  is  notoriously  corrupt.  Opportunities  for  galling 
oppression  are  open  to  the  governments,  both  federal 
and  state,  and,  most  ominous  of  trouble,  redress  by  the 
ballot  is  not  possible.  The  anomaly  is  presented  of  a 
republic  in  which  there  is  no  census  nor  registration  of 
voters,  no  scrutiny  of  the  ballot-box  except  by  the  party 
in  power.  There  is  hardly  a  ray  of  interest  in  the  polit- 
ical machine  by  the  people  themselves.  The  number  of 
votes  cast  at  elections  is  pitifully  small,  as  we  have  seen. 
It  is  not  considered  worth  while  to  vote.  The  lower 
classes  read  no  informing  journals,  have  no  public  speak- 
ers. No  organized  opposition  exists.  Such  opposition 
as  there  is  is  purely  personal.  All  contests  for  office  are  .A 
personal,  and  not  a  matter  of  principles.  The  Govern- 
ment— that  of  the  centre  influencing  the  states,  and  these 
in  turn  the  communities — sustains  and  counts  in  what 
candidates  it  pleases.  There  are  no  data  for  objection, 
since  nobody  can  point  to  the  real  number  of  voters  in 
a  given  place,  nor  their  names. 

When  this  is  understood  it  seems  to  a"ccount  for  almost 
all  that  has  happened.  There  is  absolutely  no  remedy 
for  oppressive  domination  but  in  rebellion.  With  the 
best  of  dispositions,  the  most  entire  patience,  what  has 
happened  in  the  past  may  happen  again. 


148  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINdSS. 

If  there  be  any  statesmanship  in  Mexico,  may  we  not 
hope  to  see  some  champion  arise  to  remedy  this,  instruct 
the  masses  in  their  rights,  enumerate  and  register  them, 
and  insure  them  the  first  essential  of  a  free  government 
— an  accurate  and  unfettered  suffrage? 


CUATITLAN— LAKES  XOVHIMILCO  AND    VIIALCO.     149 


XII. 

CUATITLAN,  AND  AROUND  LAKES  XOCHIMILCO 
AND    VHALCO. 


The  saying  is  current  that  "Outside  of  Mexico  all  is 
Cuatitlan." 

It  shows  that  the  capital  entertains  a  true  Parisian  es- 
teem for  itself,  and  a  corresponding  contempt  for  the  rest 
of  the  country.  Cuatitlan  is  a  little  village  twenty-live 
miles  to  the  northward,  reached  by  a  narrow-gauge  rail- 
road, built  by  Mexicans,  but  purchased  by  the  Mexican 
Central.  It  w^as  at  Cuatitlan  that  I  saw  my  first  bull- 
fight. It  is  one  of  the  two  places  in  the  vicinity  where 
the  capital  thus  amuses  itself,  the  sport  being  prohibited 
in  town.  In  some  states,  as  Zacatecas,  it  is  abolished  en- 
tirely. 

There  were  five  bulls  killed  that  day,  and  three  horses, 
but  no  men — unfortunately,  the  novice  in  these  cowardly 
and  disagreeable  representations  is  inclined  to  think. 
Each  bull  came  in  ignorant  of  the  fate  of  his  predeces- 
sor, and  ran  at  the  streamers  with  a  playful  air.  You  felt 
like  scratching  his  back  and  calling  him  "good  old  fel- 
low," instead  of  waiting  to  see  presently  his  pained  aston- 
ishment and  torture,  his  glazing  eye  and  staggering  step, 
and  death  like  that  of  an  actor  in  melodrama.  The  horses 
were  wretched  hacks,  allowed  to  be  gored  purposely  as  a 
part  of  the  spectacle.     They  were  driven  around  the  ring 


150 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


CUATITLAX— LAKES  XOCHIMILCO  AXD    CHALCO.    151 

afterward  till  they  dropped,  and  their  life-blood  poured 
with  an  audible  noise,  like  the  spatter  of  a  rivulet.  Upon 
which  the  boisterous  youth  of  Mexico,  of  the  lower  class, 
cried  "j&eZ/o/"  ^'■BelUsslmo!^''  in  frenzied  delight. 

The  gray  old  walls  of  the  parish  church,  immense,  and 
of  excellent  design  (as  they  all  are),  rise  above  the  amphi- 
theatre. Within  are  figures  of  saints  grotesquely  adorned, 
or  realistically  horrible,  in  the  usual  style.  The  devout 
Indians  are  not  archaeologists,  and  have  no  idea  of  paying 
honor  other  than  as  they  understand  it.  I  have  it  on 
authority  that  when  left  to  themselves  they  have  been 
known  to  equip  tlie  Saviour  of  the  World  in  a  twent}'- 
dollar  hat,  chajoarreras  (a  kind  of  riding  breeches),  spurs, 
sabre,  and  revolver,  sparing  no  expense  to  make  him  a 
cavalier  of  the  first  fashion. 

The  houses  of  the  town,  built  of  concrete  or  adobe, 
sometimes  plastered  and  tinted,  are  of  one  story.  There 
are  some  small  portals  for  the  use  of  out-of-door  merchants, 
a  few  pulquerias^  and  thread-needle  shops,  and  a  meson^ 
or  inn,  "of  the  Divine  Providence,"  where  enormous- 
wheeled  wagons  are  corralled  in  line,  and  muleteers  sleep 
upon  their  packs,  as  in  the  times  of  Don  Quixote. 

This  is  Cuatitlan,  this  the  Mexican  village,  which  can 
be  dreary  enough  to  one  who  does  not  look  at  it  with  the 
fresh  interest  of  a  new-comer.  You  cannot  take  as  much 
comfort  in  the  lower  class  of  people  as  you  would  like, 
on  account  of  their  habits.  There  is  no  denying  that  in 
the  neighborliood  of  Mexico  at  least  they  are  very  dirty. 
They  do  not  clean  up  even  for  their  festivals.  I  saw 
them  dancing  at  a  public  ball  at  the  Theatre  Hidalgo, 
which,  among  other  amusements,  the  municipality  pro- 
vided for  them  free,  on  the  national  festival  of  the  5th 
of  Ma}'.  There  were  charcoal  dealers  and  such  persons, 
with  their  women,  and  they  had  not  taken  the  pains  to 


152  OLD  MEXICO  AND   UEli    LOST  I'ROVLXCEfi. 

remove  a   single    smudge    of   their  working-day  condi- 
tion. 

Cuatitlan  \vas  tlie  birth-place  of  the  simple  peon  Jnan 
Diego,  who  in  1531  saw  the  miraculons  apparition  of  the 
Virgin  of  Guadalupe.  He  was  passing  the  barren  hill 
where  her  elaborate  pilgrimage  church  now  stands,  and 
she  gave  liim  roses  which  had  flowered  where  no  flower 
had  ever  been  seen  before.  A  banner  with  the  ima^e 
of  this  miraculous  Yir^jin  was  carried  all  throue:li  the  wars 
of  the  Independence.  Guadalupe  is  still  one  of  the  spots 
to  be  visited,  and  you  buy  such  sacred  knick-knacks  there 
as  at  Lourdes  or  Einsiedlen,  but  the  church  is  stripped  of 
its  treasures  now,  and  the  surroundings  have  a  shabby 
aspect. 

II. 

At  San  Angel,  Tlalpam,  and  other  similar  points  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  capital,  there  was  formerly  an  extensive 
villa  life.  It  has  curiously  decayed,  even  while  the  secur- 
ity of  living  in  such  a  way  has  increased.  There  are  no 
fierce  heats,  however,  to  drive  people  to  the  country.  It 
is  always  comfortable  in  town.  Xo  watering-places  nor 
summer  resorts  in  our  sense  of  the  word  exist.  People 
who  go  to  their  haciendas  visit  them  more  to  look  after 
their  business  interests  than  in  need  or  love  of  country 
life.  Bills  are  up  in  the  grated  windows  of  the  long,  ( 
low,  one-storied  villas  at  San  Angel,  and  the  fruits  fall 
nntasted  in  the  orange  and  myrtle  gardens.  The  vil- 
lagers endeavor  to  atone  for  this  neglect  of  them  by 
feasts  of  flowers,  and  little  fairs,  which  last  a  week  at 
a  time.  On  these  occasions,  among  other  attractions, 
existing  ordinances  against  gambling  are  set  aside,  and 
their  small  plazas  are  filled  with  games  of  hazard. 

The  Viga  Canal,  as  far  as  Santa  Anita,  is  a  livelier  and 


CUATITL AN— LAKES  XOCHLMILCO  AND   CHALCO.    153 


7* 


154         OLD  MEXICO  AXD   II ER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

more  unique  resort.  Santa  Anita  is  tlie  St.  Cloud  or 
Bongival  of  Mexico.  Thither  go,  especially  on  Sundays, 
lively  persons  to  disport  themseU'es  on  the  water  and 
pass  a  day  of  the  picnic  order,  taking  lunch  with  them, 
or  depending  on  such  cheap  viands  as  the  place  offers. 
The  wide  yellow  canal  is  more  Venetian  than  French  at 
first.  A  mouldering  red  villa  or  two  on  its  banks,  M-itli 
private  water-gates,  might  belong  to  the  Brenta.  Af- 
terward lines  of  willows  and  poplars  are  reflected  in  the 
water,  and  then  it  is  French  again. 

Flat-boats  coming  on,  piled  up  with  bales  of  hay  and 
wood,  echo  each  other  peacefully  from  distance  to  dis- 
tance. Swift,  small  chalupas  (dug-outs)  follow,  managed 
by  the  Indian  master  in  poses  for  a  sculptor,  while  his 
wife — or  it  is  as  often  an  Indian  woman  alone — is  en- 
sconced among  flowers  and  vegetables,  with  which  it 
overflows.  This  is  the  region  of  the  chinampas,  the 
gardens  from  which  the  markets  of  Mexico  are  most 
liberallj^  supplied.  They  are  formed  by  the  division  of 
what  was  once  a  marsh,  by  narrow  branch  canals,  into 
small  oblong  patches.  The  patches  are  so  small  that  the 
owner  passes  around  the  borders  in  his  canoe,  and  keeps 
all  portions  moist  with  water,  which  he  throws  out  upon 
them  with  a  calabash.  By  this  care,  and  the  rich  charac- 
ter of  the  redeemed  soil,  luxuriant  crops  are  produced. 

The  houses  of  the  village  are  generally  of  bamboo,  and 
without  windows,  sufficient  light  penetrating  through  the 
interstices.  The  first  business  of  the  participants  in  the 
Sunda}^  festivities  here  is  to  provide  themselves  with  large, 
thick  wreaths  of  lovely  poppies  and  blue  and  white  corn- 
flowers, which  are  sold  for  the  merest  trifle.  They  wear 
these  upon  their  heads,  in  their  caperings,  with  a  highly 
classic  effect.  A  general  frizzling  sound  is  heard,  where 
eatables,  of  which  peppers  form  a  large  ingredient,  are 


CUATITLAX— LAKES  XOCHIMILCO  AND   CHALCO.     155 

prepared  on  little  cliarcoal  furnaces  without  and  primi- 
tive fire-places  within.  "Come  in!"  the  busy  venders 
cry ;  "  come  in,  senors,  senoras,  and  senoritas,  and  be 
seated!  Aqui  los  ninos !  Here  is  the  place  for  the  chil- 
dren !  Here  is  the  place  where  they  are  appreciated,  and 
by  no  means  considered  a  nuisance !" 

'■'■Tamales  calientitos !  dear  little  tamales,  very  nice 
and  hot!"  they  cry.  In  the  same  caressing  way  a  cab- 
man in  want  of  a  job  will  call  you  imtroncito^  "  dear  little 
patron,"  though  you  may  be  as  large  as  a  grenadier. 

They  decorate  their  little  stands  with  turnips  and  rad- 
ishes cut  into  ingenious  shapes  of  flowers,  and  with  a 
profusion  of  little  birds  in  wax,  and  the  Mexican  Goddess 
of  Liberty  astride  of  an  eagle.  A  swarm  of  flat-boat  men 
cluster  at  the  edge  of  the  canal,  bidding  for  your  patron- 
age. Dancing  is  going  on  in  almost  every  court-yard; 
the  ballad-singers  strike  up  lazy  refrains ;  and  in  the  Car- 
cel,  in  a  dirty  little  plaza,  by  a  fountain,  a  single  prisoner 
monotonously  rattles  his  wooden  grating,  and  glares  out 
at  the  gayety  like  a  madman.  No  self-respecting  Ameri- 
can prisoner  could  be  induced  to  stay  in  a  place  so  easy 
to  escape  from.     But  there  is  no  accounting  for  tastes. 


III. 

But  are  there  no  real  chinampas,  no  gardens  tliat  actu- 
ally float,  according  to  the  tradition  ?  Was  all  that,  then, 
a  myth  ? 

Not  at  all.  The  soil  hereabouts  is  solidified  now,  an- 
chored down,  as  it  were;  but  it  has  in  its  time  floated, 
and  in  that  condition  borne  crops.  Farther  on  wliole 
expanses  are  found  only  kept  in  position  by  stakes,  with 
four  feet  of  water  below,  and  yet  strong  enough  to  sus- 
tain  grazing  cattle.      An   expedition   was  organized,  in 


156  OLD   MKXILO   AM)   IIKH    LOST  riiUVIXVES. 

which  I  was  privileged  to  set  off,  under  the  hospitable 
guidance  of  the  Dii-ector  of  the  Drainage  of  the  Vallej^ 
to  witness  these  marvels  in  person.  We  had  a  large 
row-boat,  rowed  by  five  oarsmen  ;  and  in  our  party  was 
an  amiable  English  traveller,  who  has  written  a  book 
about  Mexico,*  and  described,  among  others,  this  very 
expedition. 

We  started  about  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning  from 
the  garita  of  La  Viga,  an  old  Spanish  water-gate,  at  which 
toll  is  taken  from  the  market  boats.  The  current  was 
against  us.  The  canal  of  La  Viga,  a  stretch  of  about  six- 
teen miles,  is  the  outlet  of  Lake  Xochimilco  into  Texcoco. 
Chalco  and  Xochimilco  are  practically  the  same  lake,  be- 
ing separated  oi\\y  by  a  narrow  causeway  of  ancient  date, 
which  is  open  at  the  centre  and  spanned  by  a  little  bridge. 

There  are  numerous  hamlets  along  the  way,  built  like 
Santa  Anita,  and  each  with  a  few  venerable  palm-trees  in 
its  plaza.  The  Jefe  Politico  of  one  embraced  our  Director 
of  the  Desaglie  and  kissed  his  hand.  At  another  a  solid 
little  bridge  had  lately  been  thrown  across  the  canal,  and 
we  heard  of  a  banquet  that  had  been  given  on  the  occa- 
sion. The  orator  of  the  day  had  delivered  a  resounding 
address  on  human  progress,  and  declared  that  he  was 
proud  to  be  a  resident  of  a  village  which  could  accom- 
plish such  a  feat.  We  lunched  at  a  fort -like  hacienda 
at  Ixtapalapa,  the  point  where  the  canal  issues  from  the 
lake,  and  there  found  horses  awaiting  to  take  us  to  the 
top  of  the  Hill  of  the  Star.  Upon  this  eminence,  accord- 
ing to  Prescott,  were  rekindled  the  extinguished  fires 
and  the  beautiful  captive  sacrificed  at  the  end  of  each 
of  the  cycles  of  fifty  3'ears,  when  the  Aztecs  thought  the 
existence  of  the  world  was  to  be  terminated. 

*  Brockleliurst's  "Mexico  To-day."    John  Murray:  London,  1883. 


CUATITLAX— LAKES  XOCIUMILCO   AXD    VHALCO.     157 

We  found  nothing  on  tlie  summit  but  a  few  heavy 
foundation  stones,  possibly  remains  of  a  sacrificial  altar. 
Our  horses  had  to  be  walked  actively  about,  to  prevent 
their  taking  serious  cold  from  the  rapid  evaporation.  It 
is  chiefly  memoi'ies  that  are  found  on  such  places.  I 
plucked  there,  however,  to  send  in  a  letter,  a  dark -red 
common  flower,  and  pleased  myself  with  the  fancy  that 
it  might  have  drawn  its  sanguinary  hue  from  the  ground 
so  steeped  in  slaughter. 

Though  at  the  entrance  of  the  lake,  no  shining  expanse 
of  water  was  visible.  The  greater  part  of  the  surface, 
in  fact,  is  covered  with  a  singular  growth  of  entwined 
roots  and  debris^  supporting  a  verdant  meadow.  Pas- 
sage through  it  is  effected  by  canals  and  shifting  natural 
channels,  which  change  with  the  wind. 

Two  of  our  men  after  a  time  got  out  and  towed  the 
boat.  The  ostensible  terra  Jirma  sank  under  their  weight 
like  the  undulations  of  "benders"  in  thin  ice.  Now  and 
then  one  floundered  and  went  in  waist-deep,  whereat  the 
others  laughed.  The  margins  are  kept  in  place  along  the 
permanent  channels  by  pinning  them  down  with  long 
stakes. 

We  fell  in  with  wandering  strips  of  growing  verdure, 
called  cintas  (ribbons),  and  larger  ones,  handoleros  (ban- 
dits), drifting  about  at  their  own  sweet  will.  Our  host 
told  us,  though  this  he  would  not  guarantee  as  of  his  own 
experience,  that  in  the  earlier  times  a  garden  of  flowers 
and  vegetables  was  now  and  then  wrecked  along-shore 
after  a  gale  of  wind,  as  if  it  had  been  a  bark.  Contra- 
bandists, robbers  who  occasionally  beset  the  market-boats, 
and  political  refugees  have  sometimes  found  this  a  favor- 
able place  of  refuge,  and  escaped  pursuit  by  diving  under 
the  illusive  area  and  coming  up  elsewhere. 

We  dined  alfresco  at  Mas  Arriba,  a  place  named  quite 


158  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

in  the  American  style,  literally  Farther  On.  The  margins 
were  full  of  yellow  water-lilies,  and  the  clear  spaces  re- 
flected distant  mountains.  Evening  drew  on,  and  then 
night.  The  frogs  and  crickets  waked  up  their  lonesome 
refrain,  and  fire -flies  twinkled  brightly  in  the  morass. 
A  few  drops  of  rain  fell,  which  increased  in  time  to  a 
shower. 

IV. 

We  reached  the  long  causeway  between  the  two  lakes 
late  at  night,  in  pitch  darkness  and  torrents  of  rain,  and 
screened  ourselves  a  while  under  the  little  brido^e,  which 
barely  accommodated  the  boat.  Here  was  Tlahuac,  an  an- 
cient island  town  or  village,  at  the  centre  of  the  cause- 
way. Waiting  was  useless.  We  landed  in  the  rain,  bought 
candles  at  a  wretched  tienda  kept  by  Indians  as  solemn 
as  statues,  and  set  out  in  search  of  a  lodging.  A  mozo 
preceded  us,  like  a  great  fire-bug,  sheltering  a  burning 
candle  under  a  straw  mat  as  best  he  could,  to  aid  us  in 
keeping  out  of  the  deeper  puddles. 

We  were  recommended  to  the  Padre,  as  the  only  per- 
son capable  of  entertaining  visitors  of  our  distinction,  and 
found  him  in  an  ancient  Dominican  convent  looming  up 
in  the  darkness.  He  received  us  with  many  apologies, 
gave  us  a  good  supper,  manifested  an  interest  in  the  late 
gossip  of  Mexico,  and  put  us  to  sleep  on  the  church  car- 
pets on  the  floor  of  a  vast,  bare  room,  provided  with  a 
few  old  religious  pictures  and  bits  of  furniture. 

Any  temporary  discomforts  of  this  night  of  adventure 
were  amply  atoned  for  by  the  beautiful  bright  morning 
of  the  next  day.  We  found  Tlahuac  a  kind  of  Venetian 
island,  a  Torcello,  as  it  were,  on  which  some  population  of 
New  Zealanders  might  have  put  up  their  thatched  huts. 
The  church  risinof  in  the  centre  had  one  of  the  usual  shin- 


CITATITL AN— LAKES  XOCHIMILCO  AND    CHALCO.    159 

ing  tiled  domes,  and  was  preceded  by  a  court  and  arched 
gateway.  Its  outer  walls  were  covered  witli  a  large  pat- 
tern of  quatre-foils  in  red  and  yellow.  I  do  not  recol- 
lect just  such  a  design  again  till  I  came  later  to  the 
old  Spanish  mission  of  San  Juan  Capistrano,  in  Southern 
California.  The  island  has  sunk,  or  rather  the  lake  has 
risen,  in  course  of  time,  and  the  bases  of  the  columns  in  the 
church  are  some  four  feet  below  the  level  of  the  ground. 

Near  by  was  the  village  school,  and,  as  we  got  under 
way,  we  heard  the  shrill  little  voices  of  the  children  re- 
citing their  spelling  in  concert.  All  the  shock -headed 
adult  residents,  in  their  garments  of  white  cotton,  looked 
as  stupid  as  possible;  but  it  is  not  alwaj's  safe  to  judge 
by  appearances. 

From  here  the  view  of  the  two  great  snow-clad  vol- 
canoes is  uninterrupted  and  glorious.  We  were  told  to 
feel  with  the  oars  at  one  place  in  the  canal  the  pave- 
ments of  a  submerged  Aztec  city.  Cortez  mentions  such 
a  one  in  his  letters.  In  1855  the  rumor  of  a  new  Pom- 
peii spread  abroad,  based  upon  the  finding  of  a  few  sub- 
merged Aztec  huts  in  Lake  Chalco,  but  no  remains  of 
any  real  importance  have  ever  come  to  light. 


V. 

On  this  da}',  in  Lake  Chalco,  we  took  our  mid-day  meal 
at  the  base  of  Xico,  a  little  island  volcano  now  extinct. 
It  is  of  solid  granite,  without  so  much  as  a  blade  of  grass 
externally,  and  the  ascent  is  smooth  and  difficult.  The 
boatmen  sometimes  see  "Will-o'-the-wisps"  on  its  sum- 
mit, which,  they  say,  are  kindled  by  the  witches.  We 
climbed  it,  notwithstanding,  and  found  a  gently  sloping 
crater,  tilled  with  maize- fields,  which  could  easily  have 
been  approached  from  the  other  side. 


100  OLD  MEXICO  AND  IIEIi   LOST  rROVIXVES. 

The  water  began  to  be  charmingly  clear,  and  the  bot- 
tom was  full  of  a  red  weed  like  coral.  We  gathered 
ferns,  lilies,  the  fragrant  little  white  flower  of  St.  John — 
Jloj^  de  San  Juan,  sold  in  large  bunches  in  the  market — 
and  other  flowers,  yellow,  purple,  and  vivid  scarlet,  of  un- 
known names. 

The  clouds  still  hnng  threateningly  about,  and  gave  us 
now  and  then  a  slight  sprinkle  of  rain.  But  as  we  drew 
near  to  Chalco  and  the  end  of  our  two  days'  voyage  they 
cleared  away. 

The  prospect  from  this  point  is  the  subject  for  a  land- 
scape painting  of  the  grand  order.  The  town  of  Chalco, 
with  an  ancient  and  noble  church  edifice,  supplies  the 
element  of  human  interest.  In  front  is  the  blue  water 
in  spaces,  with  their  reflection,  and  a  wealth  of  marsh 
plants,  arrow  and  lance  heads,  ferns,  and  flowers.  In  the 
distance  is  the  great  snow-clad  mountains,  upon  M'hich 
wreathing  mists  throw  changing  lights  and  shadows. 
Ixtacihuatl,  the  "White  Woman,  though  the  lesser,  I  con- 
tinually find  the  more  picturesque  of  the  two,  in  its  sharp 
and  rugged  outline.  Popocatepetl,  in  the  more  perfect 
symmetry  of  its  cone,  is  a  little  monotonous,  like  Orizaba. 

We  came,  by  a  short  branch  canal,  to  the  station  of  La 
Compania,  on  the  Morelos  railway,  and  took  the  train 
back  to  town.  We  were  just  in  time  to  hear  of  a  dis- 
turbance near  by  by  General  Tiburcio  Montiel,  and  his 
arrest  by  the  Government  forces.  It  was  said  that  he 
had  headed  a  communistic  uprising  of  Indians  for  the 
recovery  of  their  lands.  He  declared  through  the  press 
afterward  that  he  had  but  gathered  a  posse  to  aid  him 
in  the  execution  of  some  legal  process.  Quaint  risings  of 
a  communistic  sort,  however,  have  not  been  uncommon. 
Demagogues  have  more  than  once  told  the  simple-minded 
peons  that  the  lands  of  the  country  were  theirs — liad  been 


CUATITLAX— LAKES  XOVIIIMILCO  AM)    CHAU'O.     161 

wrested  from  their  ancestors  by  the  Spanish  conquerors 
— and  it  was  hioh  time  to  ffet  them  back.  An  ingenious 
hacendado,  waited  upon  by  such  a  delegation,  admitted 
their  view,  but  met  it  with  another. 

"  Yes,"  said  he,  "  the  Spaniards  took  your  lands,  it  is 
true ;  but  before  that  you  Aztecs  took  them  from  the 
Toltecs.  Find  me  first,  therefore,  some  Toltecs ;  I  will 
yield  my  title  only  to  them." 


162         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


XIII. 

TO    OLD    TEXCOCO. 


My  next  journey  was  by  lake  across  Texcoco  to  the 
old  capital  of  that  name.  I  liad  hoped  to  take  El  Nez- 
hualcoyotl,  which  lay  in  the  mud  by  the  Garita  of  San 
Lazaro,  when  I  went  to  make  preliminary  inquiries. 
There  would  have  been  a  certain  fitness  in  approaching 
the  ancient  capital  in  a  boat  named  after  the  sovereign 
who  made  it  ilhistrious;  but  it  was  not  its  day  for  sailing. 

The  Nezhualcoyotl  was  clipper-built,  as  it  were,  a  long, 
rusty,  gondola-like  scow,  devoted  exclusively  to  passenger 
traffic.  We  took  instead  a  freight-boat  of  much  larger 
and  heavier  build.  La  Ninfa  Encantadora,  or  "  the  En- 
chanting Nymph."  She  would  have  been  called  the  Mary 
Ann  or  Betsy  Jane  elsewhere,  but  such  is  the  difference 
in  the  tropical  imagination. 

A  cabin  sheltered  the  passengers  and  some  budgets  of 
goods  which  were  done  up  in  the  inevitable  J9eto^^,s,  rush 
mats,  and  included  two  bags  of  silver.  There  were  a 
couple  of  young  women  going  to  pasear  —  take  a  little 
vacation  — at  Texcoco.  "It  will  be  triste,  of  course," 
they  said,  "like  everything  out  of  Mexico;  still,  we  are 
going  to  try  it  for  a  while."  Thej'  offered  a  part  of 
their  lunch,  as  travelling  companions  were  continually 
doing  wherever  I  went,  and  the  skipper  offered  \xs> pulque. 
Two  older  women,  in  blue  rebosas,  sat  like  statues,  hold- 


TO    OLD    TEXCOCO.  163 

ing  tlieir  parcels  and  an  Indian  baby  in  their  laps,  from 
one  end  of  the  long  journey  to  the  other. 

The  canal  of  San  Lazaro  on  this  side  extends  about  a 
league  to  the  lake.  It  is  very  much  less  attractive  than 
that  of  Chalco.  Its  terminus  in  the  city  is  the  point 
of  a  most  animated  and  Yenetian-like  market  scene,  but 
one  earns  his  pleasure  in  dealing  with  this  canal  at  the 
expense  of  many  a  bad  odor.  Six  men  put  a  sort  of  har- 
ness on  themselves  and  dragged  us  along,  plodding  on 
the  tow-path,  as  Russian  peasants  drag  their  boats  in 
some  of  their  rivers.  A  man  on  horseback  with  a  tow- 
rope  also  assisted,  on  the  other  side. 

The  water,  shoal  in  the  beginning,  shoaled  more  as  we 
went  on,  till  we  were  aground  on  flats  in  the  edge  of  the 
lake.  The  city  sewage  was  aground  with  us.  Still,  the 
situation  was  relieved  by  the  striking  prospect.  The  teo- 
calli-like  Penol,  where  there  are  warm  baths,  was  close 
at  hand.  Sky  and  water  were  of  an  identical  blue;  the 
shallow  expanse  reflected  the  circuit  of  dark  and  purplish 
foot-hills  and  great  snow-peaks  beyond  as  perfectly  as  if 
it  had  been  as  deep  as  they  were  high. 

Our  crew  walked  for  an  hour  in  the  mud,  pushing 
against  long  poles  projected  from  the  sides,  before  we 
could  be  said  to  be  fairly  afloat.  Then  they  came 
aboard  and  poled  the  rest  of  the  way.  They  walked  up 
an  inclined  plane,  carrying  the  poles  over  their  heads,  and 
came  down,  pushing,  with  them  supported  against  their 
shoulders,  in  a  bold  and  striking  motion.  It  was  eight 
o'clock  wiien  we  set  out,  and  four  when  we  reached  the 
mouth  of  the  short  branch  canal  which  makes  up  to  Tex- 
coco.  The  distance  must  be  about  thirty  miles.  A  cross 
arose  out  of  the  lake  half  way  over,  and  our  polemen 
stopped  at  it  and  shouted  three  times,  with  startling  ef- 
fect, ^'■Alabo  al  gran  poder  de  Dion!    Ave  Maria  pu- 


164  01^1)   MEXICO   AX/)   HKR   LOST  I'liOVIXCES. 

rissimaf" — "Hail  to  the  almighty  power  of  God  !  Hail, 
Mary  the  purest !" 

Unexpectant  of  anything  of  the  sort,  I  Imrried  out 
from  the  cabin,  taking  it  to  be  some  detiance  at  enemies, 
or  disturbance  among  ourselves.  We  met  other  packets 
like  our  own,  loaded  with  people.  A  considerable  part  of 
the  cargoes  M'as  the  fine  large  red  earthen  jars  and  dishes 
we  saw  at  Mexico,  which  are  made  at  Texcoco.  The 
piled-up  bales  and  pottery,  the  strange  figures,  and  the 
flashing  poles  of  one  of  these  craft,  coming  on,  make  it 
a  highly  original  and  spirited  subject. 

Then  we  fell  in  with  one  of  the  curiosities  of  the 
lake  —  disbelieved  in  by  some  —  swarms  of  the  mosca, 
a  little  water-fly,  so  thickly  settled  on  the  water  that  we 
took  them  for  flats  and  reefs.  They  resemble  mosquitoes, 
but  neither  sting  nor  even  alight  on  the  boat.  They  are 
taken  in  fine  nets  and  carried  to  Mexico,  as  food  for  the 
birds ;  and  they  have  eggs,  which  are  sold  in  the  market 
and  made  into  tortillas,  which  are  said  to  be  very  pal- 
atable. 

The  shores  are  encrusted  with  native  alkali,  which  has 
its  share  in  the  production  of  the  disagreeable  odors. 
Peasants  gather  the  crude  product  and  load  it  upon  don- 
keys, to  carry  to  a  salt  and  soda  works,  and  a  manufactory 
of  glass,  situated  at  Texcoco. 

Was  it  in  this  same  branch  canal  that  Cortez  launched 
his  brigantines  for  the  destruction  of  the  naval  power  of 
the  Aztecs?  There  is  water  in  but  a  part  of  it  now;  and 
traces  of  substantial  locks  are  found,  where  grass  is  grow- 
ing and  cows  feeding. 

II. 

I  spent  nearly  a  week  at  Texcoco  assimilating  the  quiet 
interior  life  of  the  country.     I  dined  at  the  Restaurante 


TO    OLD    TEXCOVO. 


1G5 


lOG  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

Universo,  both  cheaply  and  better  as  a  rule  than  at  Mex- 
ico, and  found  a  chamber  with  the  keeper  of  the  princi- 
pal t'lenda,  there  being  no  inn.  I  even  became  some- 
thing of  an  expert  \n pulque.  The  true  connoisseur  takes 
it  mitad  y  m'dad :  half  of  agua  Tniel  newly  from  the 
maguey  field,  and  half  the  stronger  beverage  of  longer 
standing.  I  made  the  acquaintance  of  the  Jefe  Politico, 
a  polite,  youngish  man,  said  to  be  a  terror  to  evil-doers. 
He  had  made  the  roads  safe.  He  had  a  way  of  shooting 
at  brief  notice,  and  transporting  to  Yucatan,  or  if  he  con- 
tented himself  with  a  mere  fine  it  was  a  sounding  one. 
The  pidquerias  must  be  closed  at  six  o'clock,  and  other 
shops  at  nine.  One  day  the  Deputy  returned  from  his 
seat  in  Congress,  and  was  given  a  characteristic  reception. 
A  troop  of  twenty  or  so  of  his  constituents  mounted  on 
horseback,  and  preceded  the  omnibus  in  which  he  was 
drawn,  from  the  railway  station  back  into  the  town,  at 
the  top  of  their  speed,  shouting  and  firing  pistols.  Crack- 
ers and  pistols  were  fired  also  from  the  omnibus. 

I  made  the  acquaintance  also  of  the  local  druggist,  an 
intelligent  person,  who  had  a  collection  of  antiquities. 
He  was  of  the  pure  Indian  race,  and  professed  himself 
proud  of  being  an  Indian,  and  proud  of  being  a  Texco- 
can.  He  had  lately  brought  out  a  very  strong  distillation 
of  pulque,  a  kind  of  patent  medicine,  and  asked  my  ad- 
vice about  introducing  it  in  the  United  States.  He  evi- 
dently thought  we  were  made  of  money,  for  I  am  sure 
we  never  should  have  been  willing  to  pay  so  much  a 
bottle. 

The  place  has  now  about  six  thousand  people.  Its 
churches  are  immense.  It  has  a  long,  shabby  plaza,  with 
a  market  arcade  on  one  side,  and  an  Alameda,  also  in 
poor  condition.  The  Jefe  Politico  might  extend  his  pro- 
tection next  to  a  few  internal  improvements.     Hamlets 


TO   OLD   TEXCOCO.  167 

cluster  near  together  in  a  fertile  area  round  about.  I 
noted  one  day  two  peons  soberly  carrying  on  their  shoul- 
ders, among  the  niagueys,  what  appeared  to  be  a  dead 
body.  It  proved  to  be  instead  the  saint  of  the  village 
church,  which  they  were  quaintly  conveying,  as  a  loan,  to 
one  of  the  others,  to  assist  in  a  festival  of  the  morrow. 

In  the  hamlet  of  Santa  Cruz  the  population  are  pot- 
ters. Each  has  a  little  round  tower  of  a  furnace  attached 
to  his  house,  works  on  his  own  account,  and  sets  out 
the  large,  ruddy  jars  on  his  roof  to  dry.  He  could  ac- 
quire a  competence  if  persevering,  but  the  moment  he 
has  a  dollar  ahead  he  stops  work  till  it  is  spent.  In  other 
houses  persons  were  seen  at  looms  weaving  blue  cotton 
stuffs  for  apparel. 

Numbers  of  ancient  carven  stones  occur,  let  into  the 
church  walls  and  pavement,  and  set  up  in  the  Alameda. 
Remains  of  teocallis  are  also  numerous,  as  they  might 
well  be  in  a  place  once  the  seat  of  the  Augustinian  age  of 
Aztec  culture.  They  are  treated  with  no  respect  at  all. 
They  are  worn  down  into  mere  knolls,  and  planted  with 
crops.  From  the  site  of  one  now  levelled  a  proprietor 
was  said  to  have  taken  out  a  treasure.  What  with  its 
age,  the  destruction  of  haciendas  in  the  wars,  and  the 
practice  of  the  Indians,  still  prevailing,  of  burying  their 
money  in  the  ground,  there  ought  to  be  treasure-trove  in 
Mexico,  if  anywhere.  Certain  it  is  that  my  host  at  the 
tienda^  Senor  Macedonia,  had  in  his  till  some  beautiful 
old  Spanish  coins,  which  he  displayed  to  the  gossips  who 
came  in  the  evening  to  sip  beverages  and  play  dominos. 

Among  the  gossips  thus  sociably  tomando  copas  (taking 
cups)  at  the  tienda  there  was  one,  a  certain  "  Don  San- 
tiago," who  told  me  that  he  was  pulling  down,  in  his 
garden,  the  largest  pyramid  of  the  place,  to  sell  the  ma- 
terial for  building  purposes.     This  was  of  real  interest. 


168  OLD  MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PEOVIXCES. 

Going  thither,  his  pyramid  was  found  to  be  indeed  of 
imposing  size.  It  was  laid  up  in  regular  courses  of 
sun-dried  brick,  and  there  were  vestiges  of  a  facing  and 
superposed  pavements  of  cement,  as  at  San  Juan  Teoti- 
huacan.  There  was  present  in  the  place  with  me  an 
archaeologist — a  newspaper  archaeologist,  I  should  call  him. 
lie  termed  himself  an  "  expedition  ;"  he  had  an  omnivor- 
ous taste  for  unearthing  things,  without  knowledge  of  the 
language,  or  apparent  acquaintance  with  any  previous  re- 
searches or  theories ;  and  his  discoveries  were  intended 
principally  to  redound  to  the  fame  of  a  journal  which 
had  sent  him  out.  Between  us  we  brought  to  light  a  sec- 
tion of  a  great  bass-relief  which  now  occupies  a  place  in 
the  National  Museum  at  Mexico.  It  was  probably  seven 
feet  in  its  longest  dimension  and  five  in  the  other,  and 
must  have  been  a  quarter  or  so  of  the  whole  work.  It 
contained  a  calendar  circle,  no  doubt  establishing  the 
date,  and  part  of  the  figure  of  a  warrior  in  elaborate  re- 
galia, possibly  that  of  old  Nezhualcoyotl  himself.  The 
archaeologist,  whom  perhaps  I  unfairly  disparage  for  the 
auspices  under  which  he  appeared,  set  to  work  with  a 
will,  and  soon  had  half  a  dozen  natives  taking  the  sur- 
face off  the  rest  of  the  soil  in  the  vicinity,  for  the  re- 
maining fragments,  but  without  success.  It  was  the 
fierce  practice  of  the  Spaniards  to  break  the  religious 
emblems  of  the  conquered  pagans,  to  prevent  them,  as 
far  as  possible,  from  returning  to  their  idolatrous  prac- 
tices, and  most  likely  they  rolled  down  one  fragment  of 
the  great  stone  one  way,  and  another  another,  to  separate 
them  as  widely  as  possible ;  so  that  they  will  be  found 
on  different  sides  of  the  pyramid.  All  day  long  it  was 
"Don  Santiago!"  here,  and  "Don  Santiago!"  there,  as 
the  excavators  plied  their  labors;  while  I  spent  some  part 
of  it,  shaded  by  an  impromptu  awning  of  mats,  noting 


TO    OLD    TEXCOCO. 


109 


down  in  a  drawing  the  peculiarities  of  the  "find"  we 
had  made.  I  do  not  profess  myself  an  archasologist, 
except  from  the  picturesque  point  of  view.  It  is  my 
])rivate  surmise  that  a  great  deal  of  good  investigation  is 
lavished  upon  these  matters  which  had  much  better  be 


^^-^ 


spent  upon  the  present;  but  here  was  a  case  in  which  the 
sentiment  of  the  picturesque  was  amply  gratified.  There 
was  a  genuine  pleasure  in  being  one  of  the  first  to  salute 
this  interesting  fragment  of  antiquity  after  its  long  sleep, 
to  tenderly  brush  the  dirt  from  it  and  trace  its  enigmatic 
lines. 

III. 

There  is  a  decided  resemblance,  to  this  day,  in  looks 
and  habits,  between  the  Mexican  peon  and  the  China- 
man.    Writci's  on  the  subject  have  generally  represented 


170         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

America  as  originally  peopled  from  Asia,  the  Asiatics 
having  crossed  over,  perhaps,  at  Behring's  Straits,  and 
made  tlieir  way  south.  One  Mexican  writer  stoutly 
maintains  that  Mexico  was  the  cradle  of  the  race,  and 
the  migration  was  in  the  opj)osite  sense.  This  accords, 
at  any  rate,  with  Buckle's  general  theory,  that  the  thickly 
settled  portions  of  the  earth  were  at  first  those  where 
climate  and  a  natural  food-supply  made  the  maintenance 
of  life  easy.  In  these  places,  too,  civilization  began. 
The  warm  and  fertile  area  of  Central  America,  there- 
fore, would  have  teemed  with  humanity  before  the  waste 
North  was  peopled.  There  may  have  been  sculptured 
cities,  one  upon  another,  long  before  even  Uxmal  and 
Palenque,  the  origin  of  which  was  lost  in  obscurity  to 
the  Aztecs. 

However  this  may  be,  the  Aztecs  themselves,  whether 
descendants  of  a  race  expatriated  from  the  South  and 
become  rugged  in  the  North,  or  having  crossed  over  from 
Asia,  came  down  from  the  colder  regions,  like  the  Goths 
and  Vandals  upon  Italy.  The  tradition  on  this  point  is 
clear.  One  day  two  leading  personages,  Huitziton  and ' 
Tecpultzin,  in  their  far-off  northern  regions,  wherever 
they  were,  heard  a  small  bird  singing  in  the  branches 
ti-hm!  ti-hui! — let  us  go!  They  listened  intently  and 
took  counsel  together.  "  This  is  really  very  singular," 
we  may  suppose  Huitziton  saying,  while  Tecpultzin  sage- 
ly laid  a  finger  beside  his  nose  and  listened  again.  One 
would  like  a  historic  picture  by  some  competent  humorist 
of  these  two  simple  worthies  deciding  the  fate  of  their 
nation.  Ti-hui  !  ti-hui  !  piped  the  little  songster  inex- 
orably, and  that  there  seemed  nothing  for  it  but  that  the 
Aztec  people  should  move  southward,  which  they  pro- 
ceeded to  do. 

They  overwhelmed  the  civilized  Toltec  capital  at  Tula 

.  \ 


TO   OLD   TEXCOCO.  171 

in  their  progress.  They  had  a  farther  oracle  saying  that 
they  were  to  stop  when  they  should  arrive  where  an 
eagle  was  sitting  on  a  nopal  plant ;  and  this  they  found 
at  Mexico,  on  the  very  spot  which  now  is  the  plaza  of 
San  Domingo.  The  whole  district  became  filled  in  time 
with  small  kings  and  princes  tributary  to  the  Monte- 
zumas.  The  most  refined  and  peaceable  type  of  them 
all  arose  at  Texcoco. 

In  the  Cerro  of  Texcocingo,  some  ten  or  twelve  miles 
back  of  the  town,  remain  extensive  vestiges  of  an  archi- 
tectural magnificence  which  show  that  the  accounts  of 
the  historians  are  not  made  of  whole  cloth.  We  had  a 
trooper  appointed  us,  as  an  escort  and  guide,  by  the  Jefe 
Politico,  and  rode  out  to  visit  them. 

Ascending  the  hill,  of  perhaps  two  thousand  feet  in 
height,  overgrown  with  hardy  nopal  and  maguey,  you 
come  to  excellent  flights  of  steps  cut  in  the  solid  rock, 
giving  access  to  aqueducts,  bathipg  tanks,  cisterns,  and 
caverns,  heavily  sculptured  within  and  without,  which  are 
remains  of  temples  and  palaces. 

Our  trooper  had  little  ambition  in  these  matters,  and 
after  showing  us  a  part  declared  that  there  was  no  more, 
and  went  comfortably  to  sleep.  It  was  only  by  climbing 
alone  to  the  top  that  I  found  the  principal  display.  Here 
the  philosophic  Nezhualcoyotl,  in  his  retirement,  hung  in 
the  air,  above  the  wide  prospect  of  his  capital,  the  lake, 
and  his  rival  of  Mexico.  And  here,  in  the  deserted  moun- 
tain, with  a  guide  who  had  gone  fast  asleep  below,  his 
ghost  might  be  half  expected  to  be  met  with  wandering 
in  the  still  sunshine,  but  unfortunately  it  was  not.  lie 
wrote  poems  of  a  pensive  cast.  He  reflected  even  in  his 
time  as  to  whether  life  is  worth  living,  and  his  general 
theme  was  the  vanity  of  all  things  mortal. 

"Where  is  Chalchintmet,  the   Chicameca?"  he  asks. 


172         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

"  Mitl,  the  venerator  of  the  gods ;  Tolpiltzin,  last  of 
the  Toltees ;  and  the  beautiful  Xinlitzal — where  are 
they  ?" 

These  no  doubt  once  famous  personages  can  be  the 
better  spared  now,  on  account  of  their  unpronounceable 
names,  but  to  the  writer  tliey  represented  something  very 
tangible  and  solid. 

"  Very  brief  is  the  realm  of  flowers,"  he  continues, 
"and  brief  is  human  life.  .  .  .  Our  careers  are  like  tlie 
streams,  which  but  run  on  to  excavate  their  own  graves 
the  more  surely.  .  .  .  Let  ns  look,  then,  to  the  immor- 
tal life.  .  .  .  The  stars  that  now  so  puzzle  ns  are  but  the 
lamps  that  light  the  palaces  of  the  heavens." 

Such,  if  he  be  properly  presented  by  Spanish  adapters, 
were  the  sentiments  of  this  early  monarch.  Truly  the 
latent  capacities  even  of  the  natural  man  are  not  so  far 
below  the  surface ;  and  it  may  be  that  no  agency  will 
be  found  so  potent  to  awaken  them  with  a  rush  as  the 
modern  facility  in  railway  transportation. 


IV. 

On  the  return  we  visited  a  country  residence,  combined 
with  large  mills  for  making  paper  and  grinding  grain. 
It  was  called  the  Molino  del  Flores,  and  belonged  to  the 
wealthy  Cervantes  family  of  Mexico.  One  of  this  Cer- 
vantes family  was  the  subject,  in  1872,  of  a  celebrated 
exploit  by  the  plagiarios,  or  kidnappers.  He  was  seized 
while  coming  out  of  the  theatre  at  night,  a  cloak  was 
thrown  over  his  head,  and  he  was  bundled  into  a  cab. 
He  was  buried  a  long  time  under  the  floor  of  a  house,  just 
enough  food  being  given  him  to  sustain  life.  The jjlaf/i- 
arios  did  not  secure  the  large  ransom  they  demanded, 
after  all,  but  were  finally  apprehended,  and  shot — three 


TO    OLD    TEXCOCO.  173 

of  tlicm — against  tlic  wall  of  the  house,  the  Callejon  Za- 
eate,  No.  8,  where  they  had  detained  their  victim. 

The  Molino  del  Flores  was  not  only  charming  in  itself, 
hut  may  serve  as  a  text  for  mentioning  the  very  different 
sentiment  thrown  around  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  man- 
ufactory from  that  prevailing  with  us.  Mills,  residence, 
granaries,  and  chapel,  terraced  up  into  a  steep  hill -side 
from  a  little  entrance  court,  are  constructed  upon  the 
same  motif,  and  form  a  single  establishment.  It  is  set  in 
a  striking  little  gorge.  The  water-power,  after  turning 
the  mills,  is  utilized  for  lovely  gardens,  in  which  there 
arc  a  hundred  fantastic  jets  and  surprises.  Thei-e  is  an 
out-of-door  bathing  tank,  for  instance,  at  the  end  of  a  se- 
cluded walk,  screened  by  shrubbery.  The  disrobing  seat 
is  managed  in  a  small  cave  in  the  cliff,  and  the  shower, 
on  pulling  a  ring,  falls  from  the  summit,  forty  feet  above. 
It  is  a  place  that  might  have  served  for  such  an  adven- 
ture as  that  of  Susannah  and  the  Elders. 

In  the  novel  of  "  Maria,"  one  of  the  most  charming  of 
stories,  with  which  I  lirst  made  acquaintance  in  Mexico, 
though  its  scene  is  laid  among  similar  customs  in  South 
America,  the  heroine  is  represented  as  preparing  the  bath 
for  the  hero  in  such  a  tank  by  scattering  fresh  roses  into 
it  with  her  own  fair  hands. 

A  rustic  bridge,  on  which  La  Sonnambula  might  have 
walked,  is  thrown  across  the  cataract  to  a  quaintly  fres- 
coed, rock-cut  mortuary  chapel,  where,  among  others,  the 
last  titled  ancestor  of  the  house  lies  buried.  lie  had  ten 
distinct  surnames  — was  Marques  de  Flores,  a  General  of 
Brigade,  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independance,  Cap- 
tain in  Iturbide's  Guard,  Cavalier  of  the  Order  of  Gua- 
dalupe, Regidor,  Governor,  Notabile  under  Maximilian, 
and  more;  from  which  it  will  be  seen  that  the  pomp  of 
the  hidalgos  well  survived  in  Mexico. 


174         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

The  same  caressing  way  of  looking  at  industrial  estab- 
lishments here  noticed  is  universal,  and  is,  in  part,  no 
doubt,  due  to  their  rarity  and  a  thorough  appreciation  of 
their  usefulness.  I  recollect  everywhere  the  sugar  haci- 
endas, "  beneficiating"  liaciendas,  or  ore-reducing  works, 
and  cotton-mills  treated  in  similar  fashion. 

One  voyage  across  Lake  Texcoco  was  quite  sufficient 
of  its  kind,  and  I  returned  by  diligencia  to  the  junction 
point  of  the  since  completed  railway,  and  thence  by  rail 
to  the  capital.  The  pulling-gear  of  our  diligencia  was  a 
thing  of  shreds  and  patches.  A  boy  ran  beside  the  mules 
all  tlie  way  to  mend  the  broken  ropes  and  supplement, 
with  whistling  and  flapping,  the  exertions  of  the  driver. 
The  houses  in  the  villages  are  of  unwhitewashed  adobe, 
with  palings  of  organ-cactus.  It  was  like  riding  through 
a  brick-yard.  Fine  irrigating  canals,  fed  from  the  moun- 
tains, frequently  crossed  our  course,  indicating  the  sub- 
stantial scale  on  which  agricultural  works  are  conducted. 
More  than  one  monumental  ruined  hacienda,  too,  showed 
that  they  had  formerly  been  on  even  a  more  elaborate 
scale  than  now. 


POPOCATEPETL  ASCENDED.  175 


XIV. 

POPOCA  TEPETL  A  SCENDED. 


I  DO  not  know  whether  I  advise  everybody  to  climb 
Popocatepetl.  There  it  is  always  on  the  horizon,  the 
highest  mountain  in  North  America,  and  one  of  the  few 
highest  in  the  world — a  standing  inducement  to  the  ad- 
venturous. Few  accept  it,  however,  though  among  those 
who  have  done  so  are  said  to  be  ladies.  I  should  some- 
what doubt  this,  but,  even  if  so,  there  seem  to  be  some 
features  of  this  ascent  which  make  it  uncertain  whether 
the  effort  "pays"  quite  as  well  as  Alpine  mountaineering. 

At  any  rate,  if  one  will  go,  let  him  liave  all  the  par- 
ticulars and  the  necessary  outfit  in  advance,  at  the  capital 
itself.  Little  aid  or  comfort  will  be  found  elsewhere  on 
his  way.  The  proper  preliminary  for  ascending  Popo- 
catepetl is  to  find  some  one  who  has  been  there  and 
knows  all  about  it,  and  to  bear  in  mind  besides  the  few 
following  points,  for  his  informant  will  be  sure  to  liave 
forgotten  them. 

The  feet  are  to  be  kept  dry  and  warm,  for  there  are 
hours  of  climbing  in  wet  snow.  This  is,  perhaps,  best 
accomplished  by  superposed  pairs  of  stout  woollen  stock- 
ings. The  guides  usually  recommend  strips  of  coarse 
cotton  cloth,  to  be  bound  around  in  Italian  contadino 
fashion ;  but  this  is  a  delusion  and  a  snare,  and  they 
mean  it  to  be  so.     They  consider,  very  justly,  that  if  the 


176         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

traveller  ciin  be  made  so  uncomfortable  as  to  quit  the 
asceut  before  it  is  half  accomplished  they  shall  collect 
the  price  agreed  upon  and  be  saved  a  great  part  of  their 
trouble. 

There  should  be  shoes  provided  with  some  arrange- 
ment of  spikes  in  the  soles,  against  the  painful  slipping 
backward.  There  should  be  a  supply  of  food  and  warm 
covering  for  camping-out,  since  absolutely  nothing  is  to 
be  had,  and  the  temperature  is  very  cold  at  the  shelter 
of  Tlamaca,  where  probably  two  nights  W'ill  have  to  be 
passed. 

I  accomplished  the  ascent  with  two  companions.  We 
had  in  the  beginning  such  assurances  of  special  assistance 
that  it  seemed  about  to  be  robbed  of  all  its  terrors.  The 
volcano  is  regularly  owned,  and  worked  as  a  sulphur 
mine,  by  General  Sanchez  Ochoa,  Governor  of  the  Mili- 
tary School.  We  were  put  in  charge  of  one  of  his  super- 
intendents, who  was  to  see  that  we  had  every  conven- 
ience, and  that  the  malacate,  or  windlass,  was  put  in 
order  for  us  to  descend  into  the  crater.  I  surmise  that 
this  particular  superintendent  did  not  greatly  care  to  en- 
counter the  needed  hardships  on  his  own  account,  for 
certain  it  is  that  in  the  sequel  we  were  left  short  of  many 
elementarj'^  necessities,  and  there  was  no  raalacate  for  the 
descent,  nor  any  reference  to  it. 

Yon  arrive  at  Amecameca,  forty  miles  from  Mexico, 
by  train.  Everybody  should  go  there.  It  is  one  of  the 
loveliest  of  places,  and  has  inns  for  the  accommodation 
of  visitors.  Amecameca  will  one  day  be  frequented  from 
many  climes,  if  I  am  not  much  mistaken.  It  has  features 
like  Interlaken.  Cool  airs  are  wafted  down  to  it  from 
the  mountains,  and  its  site  resembles  an  Alpine  vale. 
There  are  points  of  view  in  the  vicinity  whence  a  sharp 
minor  peak  separates  itself  from  the  main  snow  mass  of 


POPOCATEPETL  ASCENDED.  17Y 

Popocatepetl,  like  the  Silberhorn  from  the  Jungfrau,  at 
Interlaken.  The  streets  are  clean,  and  the  houses  almost 
all  neatly  lime-washed  in  white  or  colors.  The  market- 
place is  a  scene  for  an  opera — a  long  arcade,  full  of  bright 
figures;  behind  this  is  a  group  of  churches  and  court- 
yards ;  behind  these  the  vast  snow  mountains,  as  at  Chal- 
00,  but  nearer.  A  little  hill  at  the  left,  across  a  strip  of 
maize-fields,  is  called  the  Sacro  Monte,  and  has  a  sacred 
chapel  of  some  kind,  I  climbed  thither  while  the  negoti- 
ations for  horses  and  guides  were  in  their  first  tedious 
stage,  and  found  a  quaint  Christ  in  the  chapel,  and  a  most 
engaging  view  from  its  terrace. 


II. 

We  set  off  with  a  captain,  or  chief  guide,  who  called 
himself  Domingo  Tenario ;  a  peon  guide,  Marcellino  Car- 
doba,  who  had  worked  for  three  years  at  sulphur-mining 
in  the  volcano.  He  also  acted  as  muleteer.  We  had  four 
horses  and  a  mule — the  whole  for  eight  dollars  a  day. 
Domingo  Tenario  would  also  ascend  the  mountain  for  a 
dollar  more.  We  were  to  be  gone  three  days,  the  greater 
part  of  which  the  expedition  consumes. 

The  first  part  of  the  way  wound  among  softly  undulat- 
ing slopes,  yellow  with  barley,  out  of  which  projected 
liere  and  there  an  ancient  pyramid,  planted  with  a  crop 
also.  By  the  roadside  grew  charming  white  thistles, 
tall  blue  lupines,  and  columbines.  We  crossed  arroxjos^ 
brooks,  and  harrancas,  gorges.  The  aspect  changed  to 
that  of  an  Alpine  pasture.  There  were  bunch  grass,  ten- 
der flowering  mosses,  and  cattle  feeding.  An  eccentric 
dog,  who  was  attached,  it  seemed,  to  one  of  the  horses, 
and  had  the  ambition  to  ascend  the  mountain  also,  instead 
of  saving  his  strength  for  it,  here  ran  \\\t  and  down  and 

8* 


178         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

bit  at  the  heels  of  the  herds  in  the  most  wasteful  man- 
ner. It  seems  a  small  detail  of  an  enterprise  of  pith  and 
moment  to  mention,  but  "Perro,"  as  we  called  him,  for 
want  of  acquaintance  with  his  name,  if  he  had  one,  con- 
trived a  score  of  sage  and  amusing  devices  to  attract  an 
attention  to  himself  be^-ond  his  deserts.  The  horses 
were  frescoed  on  the  flanks  with  a  kind  of  Eastlake  dec- 
oration made  up  of  the  brands  of  successive  owners. 

The  English  landed  proprietor  in  our  small  party  occu- 
pied himself  with  collecting  specimens,  and  soon  had  a 
kind  of  geological  and  botanical  pudding  in  his  satchel. 
The  American  engineer  took  observations  with  his  ba- 
rometer and  thermometer.  Crosses  are  set  up  at  intervals 
along  the  way.  These  indicate  places  where  a  death  by 
violence  has  occurred,  but  not  always  a  death  by  the  hand 
of  man.  Did  the  custom  prevail  of  setting  up  a  cross 
in  New  York,  for  instance,  wherever  a  violent  death  had 
occurred,  we  too  should  have  a  liberal  share  of  these 
emblems. 

We  entered  the  deep,  solemn  pine-woods;  the  night 
came  on,  and  a  sharp  cold  seemed  to  penetrate  to  the 
marrow.  Buildings  appeared  in  the  gloom,  with  red 
flames  dancing  merrily  through  the  windows.  Aha !  the 
rancho  of  Tlamaca,  with  hospitable  fires  made  up,  no 
doubt,  expressly  for  our  reception  ! 

What  a  disappointment !  The  buildings  proved  to  be 
but  some  shelters  of  rough  boards,  with  plentiful  inter- 
stices, and  not  a  whole  pane  of  glass.  The  cabin  devoted 
to  the  uses  of  the  superintendent  contained  but  a  single 
cot.  The  dancing  flames  were  those  from  the  process  of 
smelting  the  crude  sulphur,  which  is  done  in  brick  fur- 
naces in  the  principal  structure.  Two  Indian  boys  stirred 
the  fires,  and  coughed  in  a  distressing  way  all  night  long. 
We  threw  ourselves  down  to  sleep  among  the  sulphur- 


POPOCATEPETL  ASCENDED.  179 

hacks.  One  was  choked  by  the  fumes,  if  near  the  fur- 
naces, and  penetrated  by  the  drauglits  through  crevice 
and  broken  window-pane,  if  remote.  Tlamaca  is  itself 
12,500  feet  above  the  sea,  and  its  thermometer  ranges 
about  40°  Fahrenheit.  Without  other  covering  than  a 
iiffht  rubber  overcoat — for  I  had  not  been  instructed  to 
bring  other — it  was  impossible  to  sleep.  I  went  out  and 
paced  the  yard,  sentry  fashion,  at  three  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  as  the  only  resource  for  keeping  the  blood  in 
circulation.  It  was  moonlight,  and  I  had  the  partial  com- 
pensation of  studying  the  volcano,  bathed  in  a  lovely 
silver  radiance. 

Mountains  are  rather  given  to  making  their  poorest 
possible  figure.  Here  we  are,  at  this  point,  already  12,500 
feet  above  the  sea,  and  this  is  to  be  subti-acted  from  the 
total.  Shall  we  ever  meet  with  a  good,  honest  mountain 
rising  its  whole  19,673  feet  at  once,  without  these  shnflling 
evasions  ?  1  fear  not.  They  are  only  to  be  found  in  the 
designs  of  tyro  pictorial  art. 

I  say  19,673  feet,  because  so  much  General  Ochoa  in- 
sists that  Popocatepetl  is,  by  a  late  measurement  with  the 
barometer  of  Gay-Lussac.  He  even  estimates  1700  feet 
more  for  the  upper  rim  of  the  crater,  which  has  never 
been  scaled.  1  do  not  know  that  this  has  ever  passed 
into  any  official  form,  but  I  had  it  from  his  own  lips. 
The  latest  Mexican  atlas  makes  it  but  5100  metres,  or 
17,884  feet,  which  coincides  with  the  measurement  of 
Humboldt.  I  much  prefer  to  rally  to  General  Ochoa, 
for  my  part,  and  to  believe  that  I  have  climbed  a  moun- 
tain of  21,373  feet,  instead  of  one  of  a  mere  17,884. 

The  barometer  of  our  own  expedition,  unfortunately, 
stopped  at  17,000  feet,  the  limit  for  which  it  was  set — 
a  limit  which  barometers  are  not  often  called  upon  to 
surpass. 


180  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 


III. 

We  left  the  Rancho,  at  six  in  tlie  morning,  on  horse- 
back, and  rode  three  liours  toilsomely  over  rocks  of 
basalt,  and  black  sand.  The  poor  animals  suffered  pain- 
fully, but  we  needed  all  our  own  strength  for  the  later 
work,  and  could  not  spare  them.  They  were  left  at  a 
point  called  Las  Crnces,  wliere  a  cross  tops  a  ledge  of 
black,  jaggedly- projecting  volcanic  rock.  The  lines  of 
composition  in  tliis  part  of  the  ascent  were  noble  and 
magnificent,  the  contrasts  startling.  Across  the  vast, 
black  undulations,  on  which  our  shadows  fell  purple- 
black,  appeared  and  disappeared  in  turn  the  rich  red  cas- 
tellated Pico  del  Fraile,  and  the  dazzling  white  breadths 
of  the  greater  mountain  engaging  our  efforts. 

Backward  from  Las  Cruces  lay  a  dizzy  view  of  the 
world  below.  Across  was  the  height  of  Ixtacihuatl,  the 
White  Woman,  keeping  us  company  in  our  ascent.  The 
valley  of  Mexico  could  be  seen  in  one  direction,  the  val-  j 
ley  of  Puebla,  and  even  the  peak  of  Orizaba,  150  miles 
away,  in  the  other.  Against  the  mysterious  vastness 
stood  the  figures  of  our  men  and  horses  on  the  ledge  of 
volcanic  rock,  as  if  in  trackless  space. 

It  was  here  that  "  Perro"  charged  down  the  slope  after 
crows,  which  tantalized  him  and  drifted  lazily  out  of  his 
reach,  and  so  wasted  his  forces  that  he  was  obliged  to 
abandon  the  expedition.  Las  Cruces  was  14,150  feet  up. 
Tiie  climb  now  began  on  foot,  in  a  soft  black  sand.  One 
of  the  leading  difiiculties  of  the  climb  is  said  to  arise 
from  the  exceeding  thinness  of  the  air,  which  makes 
breathing  difficult.  I  cannot  say  that  I  discriminated  be- 
tween this  and  the  shortness  of  breath  due  to  the  natural 
fatigue. 


POPOCATEPETL  ASCENDED.  181 

Isolated  pinnacles  of  snow  stood  up  like  monuments 
in  the  black  sand,  as  precursors  of  the  permanent  snow- 
line. The  cool  snow-line  was  a  luxury  for  the  first  few 
moments.  We  sat  down  and  lunched  by  it,  and  from 
there  took  our  last  views  backward.  Cumulus  clouds 
presently  tilled  up  the  valley  with  a  symmetrical  arrange- 
ment like  pavement.  Such  bits  as  appeared  through  fur- 
tive openings  recalled  the  charming  lines  of  Holmes's,  in 
which  a  spirit,  "homesick  in  heaven,"  looks  back  on  the 
earth  it  has  left : 

"  To  catch  perchance  some  flashing  glimpse  of  green, 
Or  breathe  some  wild-wood  fragrance,  wafted  through 
The  opening  gates  of  pearl." 

Up  to  this  point — a  little  higher,  let  us  say — the  effort 
is  rewarded.  A  view  of  "  the  kingdoms  of  the  world  and 
the  glory  thereof"  has  been  had  which  could  not  be  got 
elsewhere.  But  above  this  it  has  little  more  reward  than 
that  of  being  able  to  boast  of  it  to  your  friends.  A  few 
steps  in  the  snow,  and  imperfectly  protected  feet  were 
sodden,  numb  with  cold,  and  not  to  be  dried  again  till  the 
final  descent.  There  was  a  painful  slipping  and  falling 
in  the  snow,  and  blood -marks  were  left  by  ungloved 
hands.  The  grade  is  excessive,  the  top  invisible.  Who 
can  estimate  when  he  shall  attain  it?  The  prospect  con- 
sists of  jagged  snow-pinnacles  without  cessation,  an  end- 
less staircase  of  them  reaching  up  into  the  sk)'.  Some- 
times, in  the  sun,  all  the  pinnacles  glitter;  again,  thick 
fogs,  like  a  gray  smoke,  gather  round.  There  is  no  more 
casting  yourself  down  now  in  warm  scoriae  and  sand.  If 
you  sit  you  are  chilled.  Yet  rest  you  must  continually. 
Every  step  is  a  calculation  and  an  achievement.  You 
calculate  that  you  will  allow  yourself  a  rest  after  ten, 
after  twenty   more.     The  snow  is  not  dangerous ;  there 


182  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

are  no  crevasses  to  fall  into,  as  in  tlie  Alps;  it  is  only 
monotonous  and  fatiguing.  I  seem  to  have  gone  on  for 
an  hour  after  farther  endurance  was  intolerable.  The 
guides  encourage  you — when  they  find  that  you  really 
mean  to  go  up — with  the  adjuration,  '''■Poco  a  jpoco''''  (lit- 
tle by  little) ;  so  that  we  paraphrased  our  mountain  as 
"  Poco-a-poco-catepetl." 

Finall}',  with  sighs  and  groans  of  labored  effort,  instead 
of  the  lightness  with  which  one  might  be  expected  to  sa- 
lute a  point  of  so  extreme  high  heaven,  we  staggered  over 
the  edge  of  the  crater  at  about  two  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. I  had  doubted  at  one  time  whether  the  English 
lauded  proprietor  would  be  able  to  reach  it.  He  had 
grown  purple  in  the  face.  Perhaps  I  had  even  hoped 
that  he  might  need  a  friendly  arm  to  assist  him  down 
again  on  the  instant;  but  he  said,  with  the  true  British 
tenacity, 

"  Oh,  hless  you,  I  am  going  to  the  top^  you  know." 

And  so  he  did. 

IV. 

It  was  a  supreme  moment.  One  seemed  very  near  to 
eternity.  It  seemed  easy  to  topple  through  the  ice  mina- 
rets guarding  the  brink,  and  down  into  the  terrific  chasm. 

There  is  no  comfort  at  the  top  when  reached.  It  is 
frigidly  cold.  None  of  the  expected  heat  comes  up  from 
the  interior.  An  elemental  war  rages  around,  and  it  is 
no  place  for  human  beings.  There  is  a  kind  of  fearful 
exaltation.  A  slope  of  black  sand  descends  some  fifty 
feet  to  an  inner  edge,  broken  by  rocks  of  porphyry  and 
flint,  which  the  imagination  tortures  into  fantastic  shapes. 
Hence  a  sheer  precipice  drops  two  thousand  feet,  a  vast 
ellipse  in  plan.  There  was  snow  in  the  bottom  of  the 
crater.      Jets   of  steam   spouted  from   ten  s'^ilfatnras^,  or 


POPOCATEPETL  ASCENDED.  183 

pources,  from  which  the  native  sulphur  is  extracted.  The 
liauds  who  work  there  are  said  to  live  in  the  shelter  of 
caves,  and  remain  for  a  month  at  a  time  without  exit. 
They  are  lowered  down  by  windlass,  on  a  primitive  con- 
tiivance  they  call  a  caballo  de  oninas — horse  of  the  mines. 
The  sulj^hur  is  hoisted  in  bags  and  slid  down  a  long 
ijioove  in  the  snow  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  rancho. 
It  takes  the  palm  in  purity  over  all  sulphurs  in  the 
world.  A  company  has  been  formed,  it  is  said,  for  the 
purpose  of  working  the  deposits  more  effectually  and 
utilizing  the  steam-power  in  the  bottom  for  improved 
hoisting  machinery. 

The  men  were  on  strike  at  the  time,  as  it  happened, 
and  the  windlass  was  not  in  place,  and  w^as  not  adjusted. 
If  it  had  been,  and  we  had  descended,  we  might  have 
found  the  warmth  for  which  we  were  well-nigh  perish- 
ing. Snow  began  to  drive  from  the  heavy  cloud-banks. 
When  it  snows  the  crater  within  is  darkened,  roarings 
are  said  to  be  heard,  and  strange -colored  globules  and 
flames  play  above  the  sulfataras. 

"  What  if  there  should  be  an  eruption  ?"  suggested 
the  alarmist  of  the  party,  as  we  began  to  beat  our  retreat 
from  the  untenable  position. 

"  There  has  not  been  an  eruption  for  at  least  seven 
thousand  years,"  said  the  scientific  member,  with  con- 
tempt. "A  certain  kind  of  lignite  in  the  bottom,  re- 
quiring that  length  of  time  to  form,  establishes  it." 

"So  much  the  more  reason,  then,"  said  the  alarmist: 
"  it  is  high  time  there  w^as  another." 

With  that  we  slipped  and  floundered  down  the  snow- 
mountain  with  the  same  celerity  with  which  Vesuvius  is 
descended.  We  crossed  again  the  black  volcanic  fields, 
mounted  our  horses,  and  spent  once  more  the  night  at 
Tlamaca,  having  learned  by  experience  how  to  make  it 


184         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

slightly  more  comfortable  than  the  other.  The  next  day 
"we  rode  back  to  Amecameca. 

When  Senor  Llandesio,  Professor  of  the  Fine  Arts  at 
Mexico,  made  this  ascent,  as  he  did  in  1866,  he  says  that 
he  found  two  attempts  necessary  before  he  succeeded.  I 
have  the  pamphlet  in  which  he  describes  it.  "  The  guide 
and  peon  whispered  together  continually,"  he  says,  "  which 
made  me  think  they  were  going  to  play  us  some  trick." 

Sure  enough,  they  did.  After  a  good  wa^  np  they 
represented  that  it  was  perilous,  impossible,  to  go  farther. 
He  descended,  and  had  taken  his  seat  in  the  diligencia  to 
return  to  Mexico,  when  he  met  another  party,  with  more 
honest  guides,  and,  turning  back  with  them,  this  time 
succeeded.  He  describes  a  young  man  so  fatigued  on 
the  mountain  that  he  desired,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  to 
be  left  to  die.  Another  succumbed  owing  to  the  singu- 
lar cause,  that  he  had  fancied  that  ardent  spirits  would 
have  no  eifect  in  the  peculiarly  attenuated  atmosphere, 
and  had  emptied  nearly  a  whole  bottle  of  brandy. 

Senor  Llandesio  was  told  by  the  Indians  that  they  be- 
lieved in  a  genius  of  the  mountain,  whom  they  called 
Cuantelpostle.  He  was  a  queer  little  man,  who  dwelt 
about  the  Pico  del  Fraile,  helped  the  workmen  at  their 
labors  when  in  a  good  humor,  and  embarrassed  them  as 
much  as  possible  when  in  a  bad.  They  said,  also,  that 
presents  were  offered  by  some  to  propitiate  the  volcano, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  rain,  and  the  like.  These 
were  buried  in  the  sand,  and  the  places  marked  by  a  flat 
stone.  This  practice  may  account  for  some  of  the  discov- 
eries of  Cliarnay,  who  unearthed  about  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  much  interesting  pottery. 


A  BANQUET,  AND  A    TRAGEDY,  ETC.  185 


XV. 

A    BANQUET,  AND  A    TRAGEDY,  AT  CUAUTLA-MORELOS. 

I. 

When  I  saw  Arnecameca  again  it  was  to  pass  it  on  board 
a  gala  train  going  down  to  celebrate  the  completion  of 
the  Morelos  railway  to  Cnaiitla,  in  Tierra  Caliente.  The 
Morelos  railway  is  a  native  Mexican  work.  It  was  built 
under  the  auspices  of  Delfin  Sanchez,  a  son-in-law  of  Pres- 
ident Juarez,  was  rushed  forward  with  great  expedition, 
in  order  to  secure  valuable  premiums,  added  to  the  regu- 
lar subsidy  by  Government,  and  there  was  much  defective 
work  in  its  construction.  It  is  laid  to  the  narrow  gauge, 
and  projected  ultimately  to  reach  Acapulco,  but  this  lat- 
,ter  need  hardly  be  looked  for  in  any  predicable  time.  At 
present  it  reaches  about  seventy-five  miles — to  Cuautla- 
Morelos,  capital  of  the  state  of  Morelos. 

All  official  and  distinguished  Mexico  was  aboard  that 
day — the  President,  the  justices  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
generals,  senators,  litterateurs,  and,  greatest  of  all,  Porfi- 
rio  Diaz.  "  Porfirio  "  wore  a  felt  hat  with  a  tall  top,  and 
his  manner  with  his  friends  was  easy  and  unpretentious. 
Had  the  accident  of  a  week  later  happened  that  day  in- 
stead, the  Republic  of  Mexico  would  have  needed  to  be 
reconstructed  from  the  bottom  upward. 

A  locomotive  exj)loradora,  a  look-out  engine,  went  on 
ahead  of  us  to  see  that  all  was  safe.  Every  little  place 
had  its  music  and  firing  of  crackers,  and  the  local  detach- 


186         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


A  BANQUET,  AND  A    TRAGEDY,  ETC.  187 

ment  of  Eurales  reined  up  at  the  station.  At  Ameca- 
meca  there  were  as  many  as  iifty  of  the  hitter,  with  drawn 
swords,  all  on  white  horses,  which  the  firing  made  plunge 
with  great  spirit.  At  Ozninba  was  a  battalion  of  mounted 
riflemen,  under  command  of  a  handsome  young  officer  in 
an  eye-glass,  who  might  have  come  fresh  from  the  mili- 
tary school  of  Saint  Cyr.  The  Indian  populations,  who 
could  never  have  seen  the  locomotive  before,  maintained 
nevertheless,  as  their  way  is,  a  certain  stoicism.  There 
were  no  wild  manifestations  of  surprise,  no  shouts ;  they 
even  fired  off  their  crackers  with  a  serious  air. 

The  line  is  a  congeries  of  curves  without  end,  to  over- 
come the  three-quarters  of  a  mile  grade  perpendicular 
from  Amecameca  to  Cuautla.  Cuautla  has  seven  thou- 
sand people.  For  the  ten  years,  up  to  this  time,  there 
had  not  been  even  diligence  communication  with  it,  and 
the  railway  was  an  event  indeed.  The  enterprise  was  car- 
ried through  chiefly  by  the  exertions  of  a  Senor  Mendoza 
Cortina,  who  has  great  sugar  estates  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  streets  were  decorated  with  triumphal  arches,  and 
borders  of  tall  banana-plants.  They  were  shabby,  and 
the  place  more  squalid  than  is  the  rule  in  the  temperate 
climates  above.  The  Indians  had  an  apathetic  look. 
Few  young  and  interesting  faces  were  seen  among  them, 
but  an  extraordinary  number  of  hags.  I  found  in  use 
some  very  pretty  pottery,  which  I  was  told  was  made  at 
Cuernavaca,  forty  miles  away.  Simple  bits  of  stone  and 
shell  were  impasted  in  the  common  earthenware  with  an 
effect  like  that  of  old  Roman  mosaic.  There  was  a  dis- 
tinctly Indian  Christ  in  the  parish  church.  In  the  plaza  in 
front  stands  a  great  tree,  somehow  connected  with  a  noche 
triste  of  the  patriot  Morelos.  Like  Cortez  at  Mexico,  he 
was  forced  to  retreat  one  night  in  1812,  after  a  gallant 
resistance  of  sixty-two  days  to  a  siege  by  the  Spaniards. 


188         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


II. 

The  extremely  civilized  company  pouring  down  to  this 
shabby  little  place  had  a  grand  banquet  in  an  old  con- 
vent now  adapted  to  the  uses  of  a  railway  station,  and 
plentiful  speech-making  afterward.  There  were  a  num- 
ber of  merry  young  journalists  of  the  party,  and  they 
comported  themselves  as  merry  young  journalists  are 
apt  to.  They  rapped  on  the  table  and  called  "  otro !" 
"otro!"  —  another!  —  with  pretended  enthusiasm,  even 
after  the  dullest  speeches.  It  seemed  typical  of  some- 
thing curiously  illogical  in.  the  Mexican  mind  that  in  fes- 
toons about  the  banqueting  hall  were  set  impartially  the 
names  of  the  presidents  and  other  great  men  of  the  past, 
from  Iturbide  down  to  Manuel  Gonzales.  Iturbide  ad- 
joined Bravo  and  Guerrero,  by  whom  he  was  shot  as  a 
usurper  and  enemy  of  the  public  peace;  and  Lerdo  Por- 
firio  Diaz,  by  whom  he  was  ousted  as  traitor  and  tyrant. 
In  the  same  way  these  pei'sonages,  alternately  one  anoth- 
er's Csesars  and  Brutuses,  are  honored  impartially  in  the 
series  of  portraits  in  the  long  gallery  of  the  National 
Palace. 

There  was  naturally  prominent  here  the  portrait  of  the 
Padre  Morelos,  with  the  usual  handkerchief  around  his 
head,  and  bold  air  of  bandit  chief.  It  is  curious  that 
priests  should  have  taken  sucii  a  share  in  the  early  in- 
surrection. They  recall  those  warrior  ecclesiastics  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  who  used  to  put  on  quite  as  often  the  secu- 
lar as  the  spiritual  armor.  Probablj'  the  oppressions  of  I 
the  Spaniards  were  often  too  intolerable  even  for  ecclesi- 
astical endurance.  Morelos,  strangely  enough,  when  the 
revolt  broke  out,  was  curate  under  Hidalgo  at  Valladolid, 
in  Michoacan,  and  followed  him  to  the  field.     lie  came, 


A   BANQUET,  AND  A    TRAGEDY,  ETC.  189 

in  Ins  turn,  to  be  generalissimo  of  the  Mexican  forces, 
and  to  have  the  name  of  Valladolid  changed  to  Morelia 
in  liis  honor.  He  had  undoubtedly  the  military  gift. 
His  defence  of  Cnaiitla  is  considered  one  of  the  most 
glorious  deeds  of  Mexican  history.  It  was  the  third  in 
the  trio  of  priests,  Matanioras,  his  intimate  and  lieuten- 
ant, who  broke  the  siege  with  a  hundred  horse  and  aided 
his  retreat  when  it  linally  became  necessary. 

Matamoras  in  due  course  was  taken  and  shot,  at  Yalla- 
dolid,  by  no  other  than  Iturbide,  the  future  liberator. 
Iturbide,  then  in  the  Spanish  forces,  "had  signalized 
himself,"  to  quote  our  history  again,  "by  his  repeated 
victories  over  the  insni-gents,  and  the  excessive  cruelty 
of  which  he  made  use  on  fi-equent  occasions."  He  routed 
Matamoras  at  Puruapan,  took  him  prisoner,  and  put  him 
to  deatli,  as  has  been  said.  To  repay  this,  Morelos  butch- 
ered two  hundred  Spanish  prisoners  in  cold  blood.  So 
the  strife  of  incarnate  cruelty  went  on.  Morelos  himself 
was  made  prisoner  by  an  act  of  treachery,  and  shot,  after 
the  customary  fate  of  Mexican  leaders,  at  San  Cristobal 
Ecatapec,  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  21st  of 
December,  1815. 

Iturbide's  account,  in  his  minutes,  of  the  insurgent 
chiefs  whom  he  was  so  active  in  exterminating  is  very 
far  from  flattering.  And  here  they  are  all  apotheosized 
together.  Verily  it  seems  as  if  some  high  court  of  in- 
quiry and  review  should  be  constituted  for  apportioning 
out  a  little  the  relative  merits  and  defects  of  the  past.  The 
Mexican  national  anthem,  a  stirring  and  martial  air,  in- 
vokes among  other  things  the  sacred  memory  of  Iturbide. 
But  if  Iturbide  really  deserved  to  be  shot  on  setting  foot 
on  shore  after  his  banishment,  it  seems  much  as  if  Amer- 
icans should  invoke  the  sacred  name  of  Benedict  Arnold. 
Arnold,  too,  rendered   excellent  services  to  his  country. 


.     '% 


190         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

Nobody  was  a  braver  or  better  soldier  than  he  before  lie 
attempted  to  betraj  it  to  the  British. 

Well,  I  suppose  the  Mexicans  understand  it,  but  I  don't. 
Are  they  content  with  such  a  mixed  ideal  of  good?  Can 
a  person  have  been  such  a  patriot  at  one  time  that  no 
subsequent  crimes  can  weigh  against  him?  One  very 
simple  lesson  from  it  all  would  seem  to  be  a  less  impa- 
tience with  the  ruling  powers,  on  the  one  hand,  and  much 
less  haste  with  powder  and  shot,  on  the  other. 


III. 

I  stayed  a  couple  of  days  at  Cuautla,  to  visit  the  sugar 
haciendas.  The  sugar  product  is  large,  and  the  district 
one  of  the  most  convenient  sources  of  supply  for  central 
Mexico.  A  week  afterward  the  newly  inaugurated  road 
was  the  scene  of  an  accident  unequalled,  I  think,  in  the 
annals  of  railway  horrors.  Five  hundred  lives  were  lost, 
in  a  little  barranca,  an  insecure  bridge  over  which  had 
been  washed  out  by  the  rain.  A  regiment  in  garrison  at 
Cuautla  was  ordered  to  Mexico,  and  started  in  a  train  of 
open  "  flat "  cars,  there  not  having  been  passenger  cars  suf- 
ficient for  the  purpose.  On  other  flat  cars  was  a  freight 
of  barrels  of  aguardiente.  The  start  was  made  in  the  af- 
ternoon. There  was  delay  on  the  track.  The  shower 
came  on,  the  night  fell,  and  the  men,  pelted  by  the  storm, 
without  protection,  broke  open  the  aguardiente,  and  drank 
their  fill.  Some  say  that  the  engineer  reported  the  road 
unsafe,  but  was  forced  by  an  exasperated  ofiicer  to  go  on 
with  a  pistol  at  his  head.  They  came  to  the  broken 
bridge,  and  the  train  went  through.  The  soldiers  who 
were  not  mangled  and  incapacitated  outright — drunk,  and 
crazed  with  excitement  —  stabbed  and  shot  one  another. 
The  barrels  of  aguardiente  burst  and  took  fire ;  the  car- 


A   BANQUET,  AND  A    TRAGEDY,  ETC.  191 

tridges  in  the  belts  exploded  ;  the  swollen  torrent  claitned 
its  own  ;  and  the  fury  of  a  tropical  storm,  in  a  night  as 
black  as  Erebus,  beat  down  upon  the  writhing  mass  of 
horror. 

It  was  at  this  price  that  the  extra  subventions  for 
speedy  completion  of  the  work  were  earned.  A  white- 
washing report  was  made  afterward,  I  believe,  but  the 
Government  caused  the  road  to  be  put  in  order  before 
it  was  again  opened ;  and  the  case  may  serve  as  a  needed 
lesson  to  all  railway  builders  in  Mexico. 


192         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


XVI. 

SAN  JUAN,  ORIZABA,  AND   CORDOBA   REVISITED. 

I. 

The  impressions  of  the  first  journey  upward  from  the 
coast  are  too  vague  to  satisfy,  yet  it  is  better  to  push  on 
to  tlie  capital  and  not  take  off  the  edge  of  the  novelty 
by  dallying  on  the  way.  The  intervening  places  are 
returned  to  afterward. 

How  different  the  feeling  now !  The  things  that  had 
seemed  so  formidable  are  harmless  enough.  You  take 
now  with  gusto  the  pulque,  handed  up  at  Apam.  You 
understand  the  motley  figures,  the  interiors,  the  flavors 
of  the  strange  fruits  and  cakes,  the  proper  expressions  to 
use,  and  prices  to  pay.  The  helpless  feeling  of  standing 
in  need  of  continual  directions  is  got  rid  of,  and  travel 
has  become  a  matter  of  confidence  and  pleasure.  Our 
Mexicans  of  the  lower  class  are  not  over- quick  in  the 
matter  of  directions,  to  tell  the  truth.  I  recollect,  as  an 
example,  asking  a  small  shop-keeper,  one  day,  the  way 
to  a  neighboring  street. 

"There  it  is,"  he  said;  "but"  (insisting,  in  a  flustered 
way,  on  being  puzzled  by  my  accent,  though  lie  had  com- 
prehended what  I  meant)  ''^710  hahlamos  Americano  aquV 
— "  We  don't  speak  American  here." 

I  found  a  lodging  at  a  tienda  at  San  Juan  Teotihuacan, 
the  ancient  city  of  the  dead.  The  owner  had  before  en- 
tertained Americans.     He  had  a  doe:  to   which   he  had 


SAiV  JUAN,   ORIZABA,  AND    CORDOBA    REVISITED.     193 

given,  in  pleasant  recollection  of  one  of  them,  as  he 
said,  the  remarkable  name  of  "  Levis,"  which  afterward 
proved  to  be  "  Lewis."  Adjoining  was  a  barracks  of 
Rurales,  whose  bugles  sounded  a  cheerful  reveille  in  the 
morning.  The  central  plaza  is  perhaps  three  miles  from 
the  station.  On  the  way  jou  cross  a  handsome  stone 
bridge  built  by  Maximilian.  The  river  San  Juan  had 
vanished  from  under  it  and  left  a  mere  gulch,  as  is  the 
way  with  most  of  the  streams  in  the  dry  season. 

The  inliabitants  have  their  houses,  gardens,  and  all, 
often  above  the  cement  floors  left  by  the  extinct  race, 
and  the  edges  of  these  floors  crop  out  beside  the  road, 
worn  down  through  them.  Nobody  has  framed  a  satis- 
factory theory  of  the  place,  but  it  is  supposed  to  have 
been  a  great  pantheon,  or  burial-place,  for  the  dead  of 
importance.  Maximilian  encouraged  excavations,  and  a 
great  Egyptian -looking  head,  unearthed  in  his  time,  is 
seen.  Charnay  dug  there  later,  and  so  did  my  friend  of 
the  newspaper  expedition.  Probably  a  commission  ought 
to  be  issued  by  the  Government  for  tunnelling,  without 
impairing  their  form,  the  two  pyramids,  to  ascertain  if 
there  be  not  something  of  importance  within.  It  is  at 
present  both  conservative  and  apathetic  in  such  matters. 
The  larger  pyramid,  that  of  the  Sun,  has  an  excellent  zig- 
zag plane  approaching  its  summit.  A  long  road,  called 
the  "  Street  of  the  Dead,"  strewn  on  both  sides  with 
heaps  of  weather-worn  stones,  indicating  constructions, 
extends  from  it  to  that  of  the  Moon.  Both  are  now 
grown  with  scrubby  nopals  and  pepper-trees. 

A  couple  of  children  ran  out  from  a  cottage  at  the  foot 
of  the  Pyramid  of  the  Sun,  to  sell  "  C(Z7•^to*,"  the  little 
antiquities,  the  day  I  approached  to  climb  it.  From  the 
top  you  see  other  villages,  as  San  Francisco,  Santa  Maria 
Cuatlan,  San  Martin.     The  inhabitants  of  San  Francisco 

9 


194         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

have  erected  a  cross  here,  where  an  idol,  with  a  bur- 
nished shield,  once  stood  to  catch  the  first  rays  of  the 
rising  sun,  and  come  in  procession  each  year,  on  the  3d 
of  May,  to  conduct  a  religious  ceren)onial  and  drape  it 
with  flowers.  The  white  summit  of  Popocatepetl  barely 
shows  itself  above  the  intervening  range  of  the  Rio  Frio. 
The  officiators  at  the  pagan  altar  may  have  hailed  it  spar- 
kling afar,  like  another  sacrificial  fire.  The  country  round 
al)out  is  garden -like,  abounding  in  maize  and  maguey, 
sheep  and  cattle.  I  observed  some  large  straw -ricks, 
fashioned  by  leisurely  employes,  in  the  prevailing  taste 
for  adornment,  into  the  form  of  houses,  with  a  figure  of 
a  saint  chopped  out  in  bass-relief.  It  was  a  calm,  lovely 
Sunday.  A  fresh  breeze  played,  though  the  sun  was 
warm ;  cumulus  clouds  piled  themselves  up  magnificent- 
ly ;  and  the  tinkle  of  the  church-bells  came  up  from  the 
surrounding  villages. 

The  clouds — "  luminous  Andes  of  the  air,"  as  a  poet 
has  aptly  called  them — are  of  especial  impressiveness,  I 
think,  above  this  great  plain.  I  noted  thera  again  with 
great  pleasure  at  lluamantla,  in  the  state  of  Tlaxcala.  It 
is  a  shabby  place  of  un painted  adobe,  out  of  which  rise 
the  fine  domes  and  belfries  of  a  dozen  churches,  as  if 
they  were  enclosed  in  a  brick-yard.  Thither  Santa  Anna 
retired  for  his  last  futile  resistance,  after  the  Americans 
under  Scott  had  taken  the  capital ;  and  there,  according  to 
the  school  history,  "  the  terrible  Amerian  guerilla,  Walker, 
was  killed  in  personal  combat  by  an  intrepid  Mexican  of- 
ficer, Eulalio  Villasenor."  Near  by  is  Malinche,  a  moun- 
tain dubbed  with  a  nickname  given  by  the  Aztecs  to 
Cortez,  which  is  a  feature  of  all  this  part  of  the  country. 
It  is  not  of  great  height,  but  of  peculiar,  volcanic  shape. 
It  is  a  long  slope,  made  up  of  knobs  and  jags,  reaching 
to  a  central  point  as  sharp  as  an  arrow-head.     Peons  are 


SAN  JUAN,  ORIZABA,  AND   CORDOBA   REVISITED.     195 

ploughing,  with  oxen  and  the  primitive  wooden  plough, 
in  fertile  ground  around  its  base,  and  its  dark  mass  is 
thrown  out  boldly  against  dazzling  banks  of  cloud. 


II. 

At  Orizaba  you  are  down  in  the  tropics  again,  but  not 
tropics  of  too  oppressive  a  kind.  A  young  friend  from 
Mexico  was  making  a  visit  there  in  a  family  to  which  I 
was  admitted,  and  I  was  glad  to  see  something  of  the 
place  in  a  domestic  way.  It  has,  say,  fifteen  thousand 
inhabitants.  The  Alameda,  with  its  two  fountains,  stone 
seats,  orange-trees,  and  other  shrubberies,  is  very  charm- 
ing; so  is  the  little  Zocalo,  by  the  Cathedral.  There 
grows  in  the  gardens  here  the  splendid  tulipan,  a  shrub 
in  size  like  the  oleander,  the  large  flowers  of  which  glow 
from  a  distance  like  scarlet  lanterns.  Tall  bananas  bend 
over  the  neatly  whitened  houses.  My  Hotel  de  Diligen- 
cias  was  white  and  attractive.  Next  to  it  a  torrent  tum- 
bled down  a  wild  little  gorge,  amid  a  growth  of  bananas, 
and,  passing  under  a  bridge,  turned  flouring  and  paper 
mills.  I  had  this  under  my  eyes  from  my  window ;  and 
I  had  also  an  expanse  of  red-tiled  roofs,  gray  belfries  and 
domes,  and  the  bold  hill  of  El  Borrego  beyond.  "^The  city 
is  enclosed  by  a  rim  of  hills.  It  was  now  the  season  when 
the  rains  were  growing  frequent;  and  a  humid  atmos- 
phere, and  wet  clouds,  dragging  low  and  occasionally 
dropping  their  contents,  kept  the  vegetation  of  a  fresh, 
vivid  green. 

At  the  hotel  tcihle  d^hdte  a  couple  of  young  men  of 
very  Indian  physiognomy  —  lawyers,  I  should  judge,  by 
profession  —  talked  pantheism  and  such-like  subjects  in 
the  tone  of  Victor  Hugo's  students.  A  lady  whose  hus- 
band was  a  general  oflicer  told  me  that  she  had  been  in 


100         01.] )   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


THE    HILL    OF    EL    BORREfiO,   AT    ORIZABA. 


the  United  States — -at  New  Orleans — accounting  thus  for 
a  little  knowledgje  of  Eno;lish.  That  meant  that  she  had 
shared  her  husband's  exile  there.  One  comes  to  under- 
stand and  smile  at  it  after  a  while.  '■''Tomo  el  ruinbo  d 
la  costa.)  y  salio  de  la  Re_pubUca,  enibarcandose  jpara  Or- 
leans''''— "He  took  the  road  to  the  coast  and  sallied  from 
the  Kepnblic,  embarking;  himself  fur  New  Orleans" — has 
passed  almost  into  a  formula  in  the  accounts  of  public 
men,  New  Orleans  having  always  been  a  notable  place 
of  temporary  refuge  and  plotting  for  their  return. 


SAX  JUJy,   ORIZABA,  AX  I)    CORDOBA    REVISITED.     197 

There  was  a  gay  party,  of  station,  who  had  come  down 
to  pasear  a  little,  in  a  private  car,  and  were  taking  back 
with  them  a  great  supply  of  tlie  flowers  and  fruits  of  the 
tropics.  Shall  I  reluctantly  admit  that  they  all  ate  with 
their  knives,  and  with  the  sharp  edge  foremost?  Our 
waiter  gave  us,  smilingly,  soup  without  a  spoon,  this  and 
that  other  dish  without  a  fork,  and  hastened  off  for  long 
absences;  or  he  would  apathetically  say,  "iViy  Aay" — 
"There  is  none" — of  a  dish,  but  would  bring  it  if  it  were 
insisted  on  with  decision.  A  fellow-guest  informed  me 
at  dessert  that  he  had  been  in  New  York,  and  that  the 
American  fruits  and  dulces — sweets — were  all  alike  and 
insipid.  This  shows  that  there  is  a  natural  equilibrium 
in  things,  for  it  is  precisely  the  complaint  that  visitors 
from  the  North  lirst  make  of  those  of  the  tropics. 

My  acquaintances  in  the  place  were  the  family  of  the 
Licenciado — let  us  say — Ilerrera  y  Arroyo.  The  names 
of  both  masculine  and  feminine  progenitors  are  thus 
usually  linked  together  by  the  "3/" — and.  They  told 
me  that  there  was  very  little  formal  entertaining  done. 
They  occupied  themselves  with  embroidery,  studying 
English,  and  domestic  matters.  Their  house  was  roomy, 
but  had  little  furniture.  The  rocking-chair  can  never 
again  be  called  a  peculiarly  Yankee  feature  by  anybody 
who  has  seen  it  in  the  lower  latitudes.  The  typical  Mex- 
ican parlor,  or  living-room,  has,  like  the  one  here,  a  mat 
spread  down  in  the  centre,  on  a  brick  floor,  and  two  cane 
rocking-chairs  on  one  side  and  two  on  the  other,  in  which 
the  inmates  spend  much  of  their  time. 

We  had  a  kind  of  picnic  one  day  to  the  Barrio  Nuevo, 
a  very  pretty  coffee-and-milk-like  cascade  of  the  Rio  Ori- 
zaba. Boys  ran  out  from  thatched  cottages  in  the  edge 
of  town  to  pick  flowers  and  offer  them  to  the  senoritas, 
expecting  to  be  rewarded,  of  course,  with  a  little  consid- 


198         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

eration.      There  is  another  cascade,  even  prettier  —  the 
Rincon  Grande. 

The  next  day  we  went  to  the  sugar  ingenio  of  Jalapilla. 
A  fine  wide  avenue  of  trees  stretched  up  to  it.  The  lo- 
custs were  singing  in  them.  The  grass  and  trees  were 
exquisitely  green.  The  snow-peak  of  Orizaba,  hidden  at 
the  town  itself,  here  rises  above  intervening  hills.  There 
were  arcades,  and  monumental  gateways,  and  a  massive 
aqueduct  on  arches,  which  brings  the  water  from  a  fine 
torrent.  In  the  sunless  green  archways  of  the  old  aque- 
duct the  seuoritas  found  with  rapture  specimens  of  rare 
and  delicate  ferns  growing.  Ox-wains  brought  the  cane  to 
the  mills.  We  watched  it  through  the  processes  of  crush- 
ing in  the  machinery,  and  tasted  the  pleasant  sap  when 
first  expressed,  and  later  at  some  of  the  stages  of  boiling 
down.  Aguardiente  is  also  made  on  a  large  scale.  The 
peasants  along  the  road  sell  you  a  draught  of  it  in  its 
unfermented  state,  with  tamales.  The  residence  attached 
is  a  large,  two-story  white  house,  with  a  high  iron  gate 
between  white  posts.  It  was  loaned  to  Maximilian  as  a 
country  retreat  by  the  conservative  owners  at  one  time. 
At  present  it  is  shabby  and  unfurnished,  but  a  single 
room  being  occupied  by  the  proprietor,  who  has  the 
rough-and-ready  tastes  of  a  ranchero,  and  little  taste  for 
display. 

III. 

At  one  of  the  theatres  at  this  time  was  playing,  by  a 
Zarazuela,  or  "  variety  "  company,  "  La  Torre  de  Neslo 
6  Margarita  de  Borgogna  ;"  at  the  other,  by  a  juvenile 
company,  "  La  Fille  de  Madame  Angot." 

Whoever  would  thoroughly  enjoy  Mexico  must  have 
the  taste  for  old  architecture.  There  is  no  end  to  it,  and 
it  is  often  the  only  resource.     It  is  of  that  fantastic  ro- 


SAy  JUAN,  ORIZABA,  AND    CORDOBA    RE  VISITED.     199 

COCO  into  wliicli  the  Renaissance  fell,  in  the  luxury  and 
florid  invention  of  its  later  stages;  but  even  where  least 
defensible,  from  the  point  of  view  of  logic  and  fitness,  it 
is  redeemed  now  by  its  mouldering,  its  time-stains,  and 
superposed  layers  of  half- obliterated  colors.  Little  can 
be  said,  except  in  this  way,  for  the  carvings  and  various 
detail,  but  the  masses  are  invariably  of  a  grand  and  noble 
simplicity.  The  material  is  generally  rubble-stone  and 
cement,  and  cannot  be  very  expensive.  The  principal 
lines  of  the  style  are  horizontal.  The  dome,  semi-circular 
in  shape,  plays  a  great  part  in  it.  I  have  counted  not 
less  than  eight,  like  those  of  St.  Mark's,  at  Venice,  on  a 
single  church.  The  dome  is  built,  if  I  mistake  not,  of 
rubble  and  cement  also,  on  a  centring  of  regular  masonry, 
perhaps  even  of  wood.  It  is  a  reminiscence  of  the  Moors. 
These  edifices  were  put  up  three  hundred  years  ago,  by 
builders  in  the  flush  of  the  Byzantine  influence,  which 
radiated  from  Granada,  then  lately  conquered,  I  know 
of  no  school  in  which  the  niggling,  petty,  and  expensive 
character  of  our  own  efforts  in  this  line  could  be  bet- 
ter corrected.  Vamos !  Will  not  some  of  our  leisurely 
young  architects  with  a  taste  for  the  picturesque  travel 
here,  with  their  sketch-books,  and  bring  us  back  plans 
and  suggestions  from  this  impressive  work,  for  use  among 
ourselves? 

Some  of  the  old  churches  take  an  added  interest  from 
their  present  fate.  It  would  have  been  monotonous  to 
have  them  all  alike  in  full  ceremonial,  and  now  they  are 
pathetic,  1  used  to  linger  to  hear  the  buglers  practise  in 
the  cloistered  church  of  Carmen,  used  as  a  barracks.  It 
is  stripped  of  everything,  the  pavement  broken,  the  walls 
full  of  bullet-holes,  and  painted  with  the  names  of  detach- 
ments, as  18°  de  Infanteria,^°  Compana  de  Grenaderos^ 
which  have  occupied  it.     In  the  smoke-stains,  the  damp, 


200  OLD   MEXICO  ANL  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

to  which  patches  of  gilding  still  adhere,  and  the  vestiges 
of  scaling  fresco,  dim,  mysterious  visions  are  made  out. 
The  bare  chancel  dais,  still  surviving,  gives  to  the  inte- 
rior the  aspect  of  some  noble  throne-room.  In  our  own 
country  such  a  monument  would  be  inestimably  prized, 
and  would  become  a  pilgrimage-place  from  far  and  near; 
but  here  it  is  simply  one  of  a  great  number. 

In  the  little  public  plaza  outside  a  few  convicts  were 
repairing  the  paths.  A  pair  of  them  would  bring  some 
dirt,  about  an  ordinary  wheelbarrow  full,  on  a  stretcher, 
dump  it  in  a  leisurely  way,  and  go  back  for  more,  all  with 
plentiful  deliberation.  They  might  have  been  laborers, 
engaged  by  the  city  aldermen,  on  a  New  York  boulevard. 
A  couple  of  soldiers  with  muskets  lounged  on  the  stone 
benches  to  guard  them  as  they  worked.  The  punishment 
of  the  prisoners  could  hardly  have  been  in  what  they  did, 
but  principally  in  the  exposure — unless,  indeed,  they  were 
taken  from  a  different  part  of  the  country.  I  wondered 
if  their  friends  came  here  sometimes  and  watched  them; 
and  what  a  pain  it  must  have  been  for  the  sensitive  to 
work  thus,  hedged  round  by  an  invulnerable  restraint  and. 
infamy,  in  sight  of  the  homes  where  they  had  lived  and 
all  the  ordinary  avocations  of  life  in  which  they  had 
engaged. 

An  important  cotton-factory  at  Orizaba  has  a  fine  ar- 
chitectural gateway,  and  a  statue  of  the  founder,  Manuel 
Escandon  (1807  to  1862),  in  the  court,  after  the  practice 
heretofore  adverted  to.  Paper  is  also  made  here.  A  se- 
ries of  fines  is  prescribed,  in  printed  rules,  for  the  hands 
coming  late  in  the  morning  and  falling  into  other  misde- 
meanors. The  sum  of  these  makes  up  a  fund  for  chari- 
table use  among  themselves.  A  savings-bank  department 
is  also  conducted  for  the  benefit  of  the  operatives.  To 
encourage  savings  an  extra  liberal  interest  is  paid  when 


SAiV  JUAX,   ORIZABA,  AXI)    CORDOBA   REVISITED.     201 

the  amount  on  deposit  has  reached  fifty  dollars.  To 
avoid  in  part  the  interruption  of  the  frequent  church 
holidays,  a  dispensation  had  been  obtained  fi'oni  the  ec- 
clesiastical authorities,  allowing  work  to  go  on,  on  most 
of  them,  as  usual. 

IV. 

From  Orizaba  the  next  stage  was  to  Cordoba.  Cor- 
doba is  in  the  full  tropics,  and  there  I  first  made  acquaint- 
ance with  the  coffee  culture,  the  leading  industry  of  the 
place.  The  plant  is  less  striking  in  aspect  than  I  had 
expected.  It  is  a  bush,  with  small,  dark,  glossy  leaves, 
its  stem  never  over  six  or  seven  inches  in  diameter,  even 
at  an  age  of  fifty  years.  It  is  twelve  feet  high  at  most, 
but  usually  topped  and  kept  lower  for  greater  conven- 
ience in  harvesting  the  product.  It  bears  a  little  axillary 
white  flower,  fragrant  like  jasmine,  and  the  green  berries 
at  the  same  time.  A  coffee  plantation  has  not  the  breadth 
of  the  platanaras,  the  fields  of  towering  banajias ;  but  it 
needs  shade,  and  large  oaks  are  left  distributed  through 
it  which  accomplish  this  purpose.  If  left  to  the  sun 
wholly  it  yields  large  crops  at  first,  then  dies.  The  cof- 
fee plant  should  bear  after  the  fourth  or  fifth  year,  and 
yield  a  half-pound  yearly  for  fifty  or  sixty  years.  It 
should  have  cost,  up  to  the  time  of  beginning  to  bear, 
about  twenty-five  cents.  This  is  supposing  a  high  culti- 
vation. By  the  more  shiftless  method  commonly  found 
in  use  here  it  costs  but  half  as  much,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  yields  no  more  than  thi-ee  ounces  on  an  average. 

Some  few  Americans,  and  other  foreigners,  have  estab- 
lished themselves  at  Cordoba,  and  lead  a  dreamy  existence 
in  the  shade.  At  one  time  it  was  the  scene  of  an  exten- 
sive coffee-planting  by  ex-Confederate  generals,  but  these 
attempts  were   not  successful.     I  was  fortunate  enough 

9* 


20 2  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

to  be  conducted  about  by  an  old  gentleman,  of  German 
birth,  who  had  lived  here  forty  years.  He  had  the  tastes 
of  a  naturalist  and  farmer,  and  the  existence  pleased  him. 
He  took  in  his  liand  a  machete  from  the  wall,  and  we  set 
forth  for  a  walk,  with  mncli  improving  discourse  by  the 
way,  in  tlie  fields  and  plantations.  Tiie  DiacJiete.,  a  long 
half  cleaver,  half  sword,  opens  you  a  path  through  a  tliick- 
et,  cuts  you  a  coffee  or  an  orange  stick,  lops  an  orchid 
from  its  high  perch  on  the  rugged  tree-bark,  or  brings 
down  a  tall  banana,  and  splits  open  its  covering  to  serve 
as  a  protection  to  a  budget  of  botanical  specimens.  Some 
small  grandchildren  of  the  house  begged  to  accompany 
us.  They  had  hardy,  out-of-door  habits,  and  ran  by  our 
sides  with  merry  clamor,  finding  a  hundred  things  to 
interest  them  along  the  way. 

My  genial  guide  had  planted  coffee  himself.  Much 
money  has  been  lost  at  it,  it  seems,  and  it  cannot  be 
very  profitable  except  under  economical  processes  atid  an 
improved  market.  When  transportation  becomes  cheap- 
er we  shall  have  introduced  into  the  United  States  from 
Mexico  also  many  choice  fruits,  notably  the  ^fine  Ma- 
nilla mango,  not  now  known.  The  fruits  of  the  country 
grow  on  you  with  experience.  To  my  taste  the  juicy 
mango,  which  at  its  best  combines  something  of  the  mel- 
on, pine-apple,  peach,  and  pear,  is  the  most  delicious  of 
them  all.  Other  fruits  are  the  chirimoya,  guava,  mame, 
granadita  (or  pomegranate),  zapote,  chazapote,  tuna,  agua- 
cate,  and  many  more,  the  distinctive  peculiarities  of  which 
I  could  not  describe  in  a  week. 

The  best  soil  for  the  coffee  is  that  of  virgin  slopes,  ca- 
pable of  being  well  manured.  It  should  be  manured  once 
in  two  years.  The  planting  takes  place  in  the  rainy 
season,  and  the  principal  harvest  is  in  ^November  and 
December.     Women   and   children   cut   off  the  berries, 


SAN  JUAN,   ORIZABA,  AND    COIiDOBA    REVISITED.     203 

which  are  then  dried  five  or  six  weeks,  and  barked ;  or 
are  barked  earlier  by  a  machine.  The  chief  labor  con- 
sists in  destroying  the  weeds,  which  must  be  done  from 
two  to  six  times  a  year.  The  plants  are  set  in  squares, 
at  a  distance  of  about  seven  feet  apart.  The  trees  rec- 
ommended for  shade  are  the  fresno,  or  ash,  cedro  (cedar), 
the  huisache,  aguacate,  maxcatle,  cajiniquil,  and  tepehuaje, 
the  characteristics  of  which  I  could  hardly  explain,  more 
than  those  of  the  fruits,  except  that  they  are  generally 
dark  and  glossy-leaved,  and  many  of  them  as  large  as  our 
elms.  There  is  a  theory,  too,  in  favor  of  shading  by  ba- 
nanas, and  plantations  are  found  where  the  two  grow 
together. 

But  a  native  proprietor  with  whom  I  talked  objects  to 
this.  "  The  platano  is  a  selfish  and  grasping  plant,"  he 
says,  indignantly.  "  It  draws  twice  and  thrice  its  propor- 
tionate amount  of  nourishment  from  the  soil.  Is  it  not 
beaten  down,  too,  in  every  storm  ?  And  the  ravaging 
liedgehog  comes  in  search  of  it,  and,  while  he  is  about 
it,  destroys  the  coffee  as  well.  No,  indeed,  no  combina- 
tion of  platano  and  coffee  for  me !" 

The  poor  platano  !  However,  it  can  stand  abuse.  How 
quickly  it  grows!  Its  great  leaves,  more  or  less  tattered 
by  friction,  flap  and  rustle  above  your  head  like  banners 
and  sails  as  you  walk  about  in  the  tropical  plantation.  It 
is  called  the  "  bread  of  the  tropics."  An  acre  of  land 
will  produce  enough  of  it  to  support  fifty  people,  whereas 
an  acre  in  wheat  will  support  only  two.  If  the  tropics 
had  had  a  good  deal  harder  time  in  getting  their  bread, 
bj'-the-vvay,  they  would  not  have  been  in  so  down-trodden 
and  slipshod  a  condition, 

I  will  not  say  that  we  had  the  better  coffee  at  our  hotel 
for  being  in  its  own  country.  It  is  the  old  story  of  "shoe- 
maker's children"  again,  I  suppose.     On  the  contrary,  I 


204  OLD   MEXICO   A XI)   II KR   LOST  PROVINCES. 

recollect  it  as  especially  poor.  The  hotel — possibly  it  has 
improved  by  this  time — was  wretchedly  kept  and  served. 
They  gave  us  half  a  dozen  kinds  of  meat  in  succession, 
without  ever  a  vegetable,  in  such  a  luxuriance  of  them. 
The  waiters  were  sunk  in  apathy,  the  management  even 
more  so.  They  seem  often  to  say  to  you,  with  an  ill- 
concealed  aversion,  at  a  Mexican  hotel,  "  If  you  will  stay, 
if  you  will  insist  on  bringing  your  traps  in,  we  will  do 
what  we  can  for  you,  but  we  are  not  at  all  anxious  for  it." 

Pack-mules  were  kept  in  the  court,  and  under  a  clois- 
ter at  one  side  women  and  girls  were  stripping  tobacco. 
Your  room,  at  a  provincial  hotel,  opens  upon  a  gallery  in 
which  mocking-birds  are  hung  in  wooden  cages — always 
one  at  least.  It  is  the  practice  of  the  Mexican  mocking- 
bird to  sleep  continuously  throughout  the  day,  so  as  to  be 
in  health  and  spirits  for  the  exercise  of  the  night.  He 
begins  at  midnight,  and  continues  his  dulcet  ingenuity  of 
torture  till  daybreak.  Naturalists  have  had  much  to  say 
of  the  mocking-bird,  comparing  him  to  a  whole  forest  full 
of  songsters,  and  the  like.  It  may  be  unwise  to  set  up  in 
opposition  to  so  much  praise,  but  there  are  times  when 
a  planing-mill  in  the  vicinity,  or  a  whole  foundery  full 
of  trip-hammers,  would  be  a  blessing  and  relief  in  com- 
parison. 

Should  the  mocking-bird  have  injudiciously  impaired 
his  strength  during  the  day,  so  as  to  allow  of  a  brief 
respite,  the  interval  is  filled  in  by  the  shrill,  quavering 
whistles  of  the  street  watchmen,  who  blow  to  each  other 
every  quarter  of  an  hour  during  the  nigiit,  to  show  that 
they  are  awake  and  vigilant. 

You  leave  Cordoba  at  4.30  in  the  morning ;  that  is,  if 
you  go  by  the  up-train.  I  was  awakened  an  hour  too  soon 
at  my  hotel,  which,  having  to  call  me,  wanted  it  over  as 
soon  as  possible.     I  had  leisure  while  waiting  to  collect 


SAA'  JUAN,  ORIZABA,  AXD    CORDOBA    REVISITED.     205 

the  views  of  one  of  these  M^atchmen.  lie  showed  me 
the  Eeiiiington  rifle  with  which  he  was  armed.  He  said 
that  he  went  on  dnt3'  at  7  p.m.  and  finished  at  5.30  a.m., 
and  received  three  and  a  half  reals — forty-two  cents — a 
day,  which  he  did  not  think  enongli.  There  are  no  cahs 
at  Cordoba.  It  is  a  tram-car,  making  a  total  of  two 
trips  a  day,  that  takes  you,  bag  and  baggage,  two  dark 
miles  or  so  to  the  station. 


V. 

But  I  did  not  leave  before  first  visiting  the  Indian 
village  of  Amatlan.  I  do  not  insist  that  erudition  of 
incalculable  value  has  been  brought  to  light  in  these 
travels,  but  they  were  a  succession  of  excursions  into 
the  actual  heart  of  things.  I  was  pleased  when  I  could 
find  something  unmodified  by  the  innovations  of  railway 
travel,  and  witness  the  familiar,  every -day  life  of  the 
people.  Perhaps  we  never  thoroughly  understand  any- 
body until  we  learn  his  routine.  A  stimulus  to  what  we 
usually  neglect,  and  take  as  a  matter  of  course,  is  aroused 
abroad.  Law-making,  education,  buying  and  selling,  eat- 
ing and  drinking,  marriage,  and  the  burial  of  the  dead,  all 
yield  entertainment.  The  traveller  who  spreads  before 
us  only  the  outre  and  startling  that  he  has  seen  may  still 
leave  us  very  much  in  the  dark  about  where  he  has  been. 
In  Mexico,  however,  almost  everything  is  outre. 

To  Amatlan  and  back  is  a  comfortable  day's  excursion. 
We  found  saddle-horses  for  hire,  and  a  young  Indian  as  a 
guide,  and  set  off.  My  companion  on  this  excursion  was 
a  commercial  traveller,  a  sprightly  young  American  of 
Spanish  origin.  Commercial  traveller  in  machetes  and 
other  cutlery :  such  was  his  profession.  The  machetes 
were  of  American  make.    I  have  one  hanging  in  my  room 


206         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

at  this  writing  wliich  came  from  Water  Street,  in  New 
York.  Tljis  agent  had  taken  his  last  order  (having  can- 
vassed the  little  store-keepers  in  the  plaza  under  my  own 
view,  as  if  they  had  been  those  of  Kalamazoo,  Aurora, 
or  Freeport),  and  was  awaiting  the  sailing  of  his  steamer 
from  Vera  Cruz.  Having  nothing  more  to  do,  he  entered 
into  the  examination  of  manners  and  customs  for  their 
own  sake  with  a  certain  zest,  though  perhaps  compre- 
hending for  the  lirst  time  that  such  things  could  be 
worth  anybody's  notice. 

Amatlan  is  the  richest  Indian  village  in — well,  one  of 
the  richest  of  Indian  villages.  Its  plantations  of  pine-ap- 
ples are  the  finest  in  the  state  of  Yera  Cruz,  to  which  all 
this  territory  from  Orizaba  down  belongs,  Orizaba  being 
its  capital.  The  pines  grow  about  sixteen  inches  in  height, 
and  should  last  ten  years.  They  are  set  in  narrow  lines, 
and  the  general  aspect  of  tl^je  field  from  a  little  distance 
is  that  of  large  sedge-grass.  You  will  buy  three  of  them 
sometimes  for  a  tlaco,  one  cent  and  a  half.  We  met  na- 
tives driving  donkey -loads  of  them  to  market.  There 
were  some  fields  of  tobacco,  of  fine  quality,  in  flower. 
The  Peak  of  Orizaba  is  magnificently  seen  from  all  this 
district.  It  is  lovelier  and  bolder  than  at  first  upon  famil- 
iar acquaintance.  Church,  the  painter,  finds  the  prefer- 
able point  of  view  farther  up  the  railroad,  using  the  wild 
gorges  of  Fortin  as  a  foreground.  Tiie  village  proved  to 
be  composed  chiefly  of  wooden  and  cane  huts,  shingled 
or  thatched,  and  the  population  to  be  exclusively  Indian. 
They  do  not  wish  any  others  to  join  them.  They  display 
everywhere  the  same  clannish  disposition.  If  persons  of 
European  origin  who  might  come  to  remain  could  not 
be  got  rid  of  by  churlishness,  it  is  thought  that  severer 
means  would  be  resorted  to. 

The  Indian  race,  as  a  rule,  is  patient  and  untiring  in 


SAN'  JUAN,  ORIZABA,  AND    CORDOBA   REVISITED.     207 

certain  minor  directions.  They  make  long,  swift  jour- 
neys, for  instance,  acting  as  beasts  of  burden  or  messen- 
gers, so  that,  seeing  their  performances,  the  words  of  Buf- 
fon  come  forcibly  to  mind  :  "  The  civilized  man  knows 
not  half  his  powers."  But  in  the  greater  concerns  of  life, 
those  requiring  forethought  for  a  permanent  future,  they 
are  very  improvident.  Perhaps,  however,  those  of  Amat- 
lan  differ  from  others,  or  perhaps  the  general  reputation 
may  not  be  wholly  deserved,  for  the  Cordobans  tell  you 
that  Aniatlan  is  even  richer  than  Cordoba. 

There  are  said  to  be  a  number  of  native  residents  worth 
from  $50,000  to  $80,000  each.  They  buy  land,  and  bury 
their  surplus  cash  in  the  ground.  It  may  well  enough  be 
that  the  lack  of  savings-banks,  or  any  more  secure  place 
of  deposit  for  money  than  the  ground,  has  something  to 
do  with  the  improvidence  complained  of.  The  alcalde, 
the  chief  of  them,  was  estimated  as  worth  a  million, 
though  this  I  should  very  much  doubt.  He  had  no  large 
ways  of  using  his  wealth,  but  was  said  to  incline  to  ava- 
rice and  delight  in  simply  piling  it  up.  There  was  a 
project  at  one  time  to  build  a  tram-road  hence  to  Cor- 
doba, the  capital  to  be  supplied  in  part  by  the  Indians, 
but  it  fell  through.  Some  of  the  well-to-do  send  their 
sons  to  good  schools,  and  even  to  Mexico,  to  take  the 
degree  of  licentiate.  These  favored  scions,  on  their  re- 
turn, must  put  on  the  usual  dress,  and  live  in  no  way 
differently  from  the  rest.  The  daughters,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  never  educated,  but  set,  without  exception,  to 
rolling  tortillas  and  the  other  domestic  drudgery. 


VI. 

We  dined  at  an  open-air  shanty  posada,  with  dogs  and 
pigs  running  freely  about  under  our  feet.     Coffee,  with- 


208  OLD  MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVIXCES. 

out  milk,  sugar,  and  pine-apples  were  all  supplied  by  the 
fields  about.  Some  few  spectators  were  interested,  but 
not  very  much,  in  a  slight  sketch  I  made  of  their  build- 
ings and  costume.  M}'  commercial  traveller,  by  way  of 
arousing  greater  enthusiasm  in  this,  represented  that  it 
was  to  be  "put  in  a  macliine"  afterward,  and  showed, 
by  a  dexterous  chuckle  and  twist  of  the  thumb,  how  it 
would  then  be  so  improved  that  you  would  never  know 
it.     But  even  this  stirred  them  only  indifferently. 

We  visited  the  alcalde  in  his  quarters.  He  was 
bristly-haired,  clad  in  cotton  shirt  and  drawers,  and  bare- 
legged, like  the  rest.  Official  business  for  the  day  was 
over,  but  he  showed  us  the  cell  in  which  on  occasion  he 
locked  up  evil-doers.  He  was  said  to  administer  justice 
impartially  to  the  rich  and  poor  alike,  and  with  a  natural 
good-sense.  But  for  occasional  perversions  of  justice  ef- 
fected by  a  Spanish  secretary  he  was  obliged  to  employ, 
he  himself  being  illiterate,  it  was  thought  that  his  court 
averaged  well  with  the  more  pretentious  tribunals  of  the 
country. 

We  rode  back  by  a  different  way,  through  a  large,  cool 
wood.  It  abounded  in  interesting  orchids,  and  there  was 
an  undergrowth  of  coffee  run  wild,  the  glossy  green  of 
its  leaves  as  shining  as  if  just  wet  by  rain.  There  was 
not  that  excessive  tangle  and  luxuriance  supposed  to  be 
characteristic  of  the  tropics;  our  own  woods  are  quite  as 
rampant.  All  that  is  found,  you  learn,  in  Tehuantepec,  for 
instance,  and  Central  America.  There  ti'ee-growths  seize 
upon  a  dwelling,  crunch  its  bones,  as  it  were,  and  bear  up 
part  of  the  walls  into  the  air;  and  it  is  vegetable  moi-e 
than  animal  life  that  is  feared.  We  forded  three  pretty 
brooks,  and  came  to  an  upland  where  cows  were  pastur- 
ing, and  the  steeples  of  Cordoba  were  again  in  sight. 
Our  young  guide  lassoed  a  cow,  led  her  to  a  shed  where 


SAiV  JUAN,  ORIZABA,  AND    CORDOBA    REVISITED.     209 

tobacco  was  drying,  and  offered  us  the  refreshment  of  a 
draught  of  new  milk. 

Being  asked  if  this  were  quite  regular  and  correct,  he 
answered  that  the  cows  were  tiiere  at  pasturage  in  charge 
of  his  uncle.     I  trust  that  this  was  so. 


210  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


PUEBLA,   CHOLULA,   TLA XC ALA. 
I. 

You  turn  off  from  the  junction  of  Apizaco,  on  the  Yera 
Cruz  railway,  to  go  to  the  large,  line  city  of  Puebla.  It 
is  the  capital  of  the  state  of  the  same  name,  and  has  a 
population  of  about  seventy-seven  thousand.  Many  ^\-o&- 
\)evous  fcih/'icas  (factories)  are  seen  along  the  fertile  val- 
ley of  approach ;  then  the  forts,  attacked  and  defended 
on  tlie  great  Cinco  de  Mayo,  appear  on  the  hills,  looking 
doM^n,  like  Mont  Yalerien  and  Charenton  above  Paris. 

Certainly  everything  out  of  Mexico  is  not  Cuatitlan. 
Puebla  is  very  clean,  well  paved,  and  well  drained.  The 
streets  are  not  too  wide,  as  many  of  them  are  at  the  capi- 
tal. I  thought  our  hotel,  De  Diligencias,  which  was  very 
well  kept,  by  a  Frenchman,  much  better  than  the  Itur- 
bide.  It  had  been  a  palace  in  its  day,  and  had  traces  yet 
of  armorial  sculptures.  Our  rooms  opened  upon  a  wide 
upper  colonnade,  where  the  table  was  spread.  It  was  full 
of  flowers,  whicli  shut  out  whatever  might  have  been 
disagreeable  to  the  eye  below.  I  am  bound  to  admit  that 
the  remorseless  mocking-bird  sang  all  night  among  them. 
I  have  mentioned  heretofore  the  tiled  front  of  a  shop, 
"La  Ciudad  de  Mexico."  A  picturesque  mosaic-work  in 
tiles  of  eartlienware  and  china  upon  a  ground  of  blood- 
red  stone  abounds.  Sometimes  it  is  a  diagonal  pattern, 
covering  a  whole  surface;  again  only  a  broad  wainscot  or 


rUEBLA,  CHOLULA,   TLAXCALA.  211 

frieze.  Plaques,  representing  saints,  which  yon  take  at 
first  for  hand-bills,  are  let  into  walls.  These  tiles  are 
made  at  Puebla,  where  there  are  as  many  as  ten  fdhricas 
of  them,  the  best  in  the  country.  I  visited  one  of  these, 
found  the  manufacture  cheaj),  and  brought  away  some 
specimens.  The  workmanship  is  rude  and  hasty,  but  the 
effect  artistic  and  adapted  to  its  purpose.  The  most  lib- 
eral example  of  their  use,  and  one  of  the  most  charming 
interiors  I  have  ever  seen,  was  that  of  what  is  now  the 
Casa  de  Dementes,  or  lunatic  asylum  for  men,  of  the  state 
of  Puebla.  It  was  formerly  a  convent  of  the  nuns  of 
Santa  Rosa,  and  was  decorated  after  their  taste.  En- 
trance, vestibule,  stairs,  central  court,  and  cloisters,  with 
fountain  in  the  centre;  balustrade,  benches,  tanks  and 
bath-tubs,  kitchen  furnace,  and  numberless  little  garden 
courts,  are  all  encrusted  with  quaint  ceramics.  It  is  like 
walking  about  in  some  magnified  piece  of  jewelry.  The 
blue-and-yellow  fountain  in  its  court  is  as  Moorish  as 
anything  in  Morocco. 

There  are  forty-two  patients  in  this  institution,  with  an 
attendant  appointed  to  each  ten.  The  rich  among  them 
pay  $16  a  month,  the  rest  nothing.  Another  one,  San 
Roque,  contains  thirty-two  women,  also  maintained  by  the 
state.  The  general  hospital,  of  San  Pedro,  another  large 
ex-convent,  with  a  nice  garden,  was  clean,  cool,  and  w^ell 
ordered;  and — curious  feature  to  note — departments  for 
allopath  and  homoeopath  arranged  in)partially  side  by 
side.  These  governments  take,  officially,  no  sides  with 
either,  but  give  them  both  a  showing. 

The  Cathedral  at  Puebla  is  equal  in  magnificence  to 
that  at  Mexico.  There  is  the  usual  Zocalo,  full  of  charm- 
ing plants,  before  it.  The  large  theatre,  "De  Guerrero," 
entered  by  a  passage  from  the  portales,  had  but  a  scant 
audience  on  the  evening  of  our  attendance,  but  was  itself 


212         OJJ)   MEXICO  AND   HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 

worthy  of  inspection.  It  had  four  tiers  of  boxes  and  a 
pit ;  the  decoration  was  in  white  and  gold,  upon  a  ground 
of  blue-and-white  wall-paper,  the  whole  of  a  chaste  and 
elegant  effect.  The  peasant  costumes  of  women  in  each 
of  the  provinces  vary  in  colors  and  niatei'ial,  though  the 
same  general  shapes  are  preserved.  At  Cordoba,  white 
and  striped  cotton  stuffs  were  in  order;  at  Mexico, 
Egyptian-looking  blue-and-black  woollen  goods.  Those 
in  all  this  part  of  the  country  I  thought  particularly 
pleasing;  and  the  great  market  and  gay  Parian,  or  ba- 
zaar, where  they  are  principally  displayed,  were  not  soon 
exhausted  as  a  spectacle.  The  men  are  usually  bare- 
legged, and  in  white  cotton.  In  the  w^arm  part  of  the 
day  they  carry  their  bright-colored  scrapes  folded  over 
one  shoulder,  and  when  it  is  cooler  put  them  on,  by  sim- 
ply inserting  their  heads  through  the  slit. 

Now  comes  by  a  woman  in  white,  with  a  red  cap  and 
girdle;  now  two  girls  of  fourteen,  all  in  white,  hurrying 
swiftly  along  under  heavy  burdens.  Here  are  women  in 
embroidered  jackets,  others  in  chemises,  with  profuse 
bands  of  colored  beads,  or  rebosos  of  rayed  stuff,  like  the 
Algerian  burnous.  Skirts  are  of  white  blanket  material, 
with  borders  of  blue,  or  blue  with  white,  or  yellow. 
The  principal  garment  is  a  mere  skirt  of  uncut  goods, 
wrapped  around  the  hips  and  kept  in  place  by  a  bright 
girdle.  Above  this  is  whatever  fantastic  waist  one 
pleases,  or  a  garment  with  an  opening  for  the  head,  after 
the  fashion  of  the  scrape.  To  all  this  is  added  a  profu- 
sion of  necklaces  of  large  beads,  amber,  blue,  and  green, 
and  large  silver  ear-rings,  or  others  of  glass,  in  the  Mex- 
ican national  colors,  green,  white,  and  red.  There  is  a 
universal  carrying  of  burdens.  The  men  accommodate 
theirs  in  a  large  wooden  cage  divided  into  compartments. 
The  women  tie  over  their  backs  budgets  done  up  in  a 


PUEBLA,  CHOLULA,  TLAXCALA.  213 

rug  of  coarse  maguey  fibre.  Often  they  carry  a  child 
or  an  earthen  jar  in  it ;  or,  when  full,  pile  a  large  green 
or  red  water-jar  on  the  top. 

Affording  so  abundant  material  for  the  artist,  they 
were  excessively  suspicious  of  any  attempt  to  turn  it  to 
account.  There  were  traditions  among  them  that  bad 
luck  would  be  encountered  should  they  allow  pictures  to 
be  taken.  It  was  to  take  away  something  from  them- 
selves, and  they  would  be  left  incomplete — probably  to 
waste  and  die.  Nor  could  their  costumes  be  bought  from 
them  except  with  great  difficulty.  Much  as  still  remains, 
there  has  been  a  great  change,  and  disappearance,  since 
the  close  of  Maximilian's  empire,  of  local  peculiarities  in 
dress.  There  has  been  a  disappearance,  too,  with  the  ad- 
vent of  machinery  and  imported  notions,  of  many  pretty 
hand-made  articles  that  formerly  adorned  the  markets. 
Among  these  were  carvings  in  charcoal,  once  of  a  pecul- 
iar excellence.  Of  those  that  remain  still  of  great  in- 
terest are  life-like  puppets,  in  wax  and  wood,  of  figures 
of  the  country,  costumed  after  their  several  types. 

On  the  evening  of  May  19th,  as  we  sat  at  dinner  in 
the  hotel  corridor,  down  came  the  rain  in  the  court.  In. 
a  few  moments  a  row  of  long  gargoyles  were  spouting 
streams  which  were  white  against  the  blackness,  and 
crossed  one  another  like  a  set  display.  '■^Va!  for  the 
rainy  season  !"  said  the  host.  It  usually  begins  by  the 
15th.  ^'■Voild!  ten  months  past  in  which  we  have  had 
scarcely  a  drop !" 

As  almost  any  desired  climate  can  be  had  by  varying 
more  or  less  the  altitude,  the  rainy  season  is  of  variable 
date  in  different  parts  of  the  country.  At  Mexico  it  is 
very  much  later.  I  did  not  find  it,  either  here  or  elsewhere, 
so  incommoding  as  n)ight  be  fancied.  It  rains  principal- 
ly at  night,  and  the  succeeding  day  is  bright  and  clear. 


214  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

In  Mexico,  as  in  California,  the  rainy  season  means  that 
in  which  rain  falls  about  as  with  us,  while  the  dry  sea- 
son is  that  in  which  there  is  none  at  all. 


II. 

Have  any  forgotten  the  tragic  advent,  and  preliminary 
agitations,  of  the  entry  of  Cortez  into  the  sacred  city 
of  Cholula?  He  assembled  the  caciques  and  notables  in 
the  great  square,  and,  at  a  given  signal,  turned  his  arms 
upon  them  and  slew  them,  to  the  number  of  three  thou- 
sand. He  had  discovered  an  artful  plot  among  them  for 
the  destruction  of  his  army,  and  it  was  his  aim  in  this  waj' 
to  strike  such  a  terror  into  the  country  that  he  should 
have  done  with  such  things  once  for  all.  The  god  wor- 
shipped at  Cholula  was  a  far  milder  one  than  the  bloody 
war  god  at  Mexico — the  peaceful  Quetzalcoatl,  God  of  the 
Air.  He  instructed  the  people  in  agriculture  and  the  arts. 
His  reign  was  a  golden  age.  Cotton  grew  already  tinted 
with  gorgeous  djxs,  and  a  single  ear  of  maize  was  as 
much  as  a  man  could  carry.  To  his  honor  the  largest  of 
all  the  teocallis  and  temples  was  erected.  He  was  repre- 
sented with  painted  shield,  jewelled  sceptre,  and  plumes 
of  fire.  Could  Cortez  have  w\aited  till  now  (such  are  the 
changes  of  time)  he  might  have  gone  into  Cholula  from 
Puebla,  to  the  foot  of  this  very  pyramid,  in  a  beautiful 
horse-car.  A  tram-way,  ultimately  to  be  extended,  and 
operated  by  steam,  reached  to  this  point,  a  distance  of  six 
miles,  and  our  conveyance  was  a  horse-car  with  a  glass 
front  (New  York  built)  which  I  have  never  seen  equalled 
elsewhere.  The  driver  of  it  was  a  Tennessee  negro,  who 
had  married  an  Indian  maid  and  settled,  much  respected, 
in  the  country.  He  had  formerly  been  body-servant  of  a 
Mexican  general,  had  travelled  with  him  in  the  United 


PUEBLA,  CHOLULA,  TLAXCALA.  215 

States  and  Europe,  and  picked  up  several  languages.  He 
called  upon  us  afterward  at  our  hotel,  to  politely  inquire 
our  impressions  of  his  tram-way. 

The  principal  features  of  the  trip  were  exquisite  views 
of  Popocatepetl  and  Ixtaciliuatl  across  yellow  grain-fields; 
a  dilapidated  convent  turned  to  an  iron  foundery ;  an  old 
aqueduct  crossing  the  plain  ;  a  Spanish  hridge,  sculpt- 
ured with  armorial  bearings,  across  the  river  Atoyac ; 
and  a  fine  grist-mill;  and  farther  on  a  cotton-mill, turned 
by  the  water-power  of  the  same  river. 

There  has  been  a  controversy  as  to  whether  the  great 
mound  was  natural  or  artificial  in  origin.  I  do  not  see 
how  there  can  be  doubt  about  it  now,  for  where  numerous 
deep  cuts  have  been  made  in  it,  for  roads  or  cultivation, 
the  artificial  structure  of  adobe  bricks  is  plainly  visible. 
Such  a  place  as  it  is  to  lie  upon  at  ease  and  dream  and  go 
back  to  the  traditions  of  the  past!  You  may  cast  yourself 
down  under  large  trees  growing  on  the  now  ragged  slopes, 
or  by  the  pilgrimage  chapel  on  the  crest,  where  the  God  of 
the  Air  once  reared  his  grotesque  bulk.  There  is  a  sculpt- 
ured cross,  dated  1666,  at  the  edge  of  the  terrace,  and 
rose-bushes  grow  out  of  the  pavement.  I  know  of  no 
prospect  of  fertile  hill  and  dale,  scattered  with  quaint  vil- 
lages, in  any  country  that  surpasses  it.  An  American 
was  there  that  day  with  the  purpose  of  buying  a  haci- 
enda, if  he  could  find  one  suitable,  and  I  for  one  thought 
there  were  many  plans  much  less  sensible. 

Cholula  had  four  hundred  towers  in  its  pagan  times, 
and  it  may  have  had  round  about  it  almost  as  many  spires 
when  the  Christian  domination  succeeded.  Let  me  recite 
the  names  of  a  few  of  the  villages  seen  from  the  top 
of  the  great  pyramid,  all  with  their  churches,  by  twos 
and  threes,  or  more :  San  Juan  ;  San  Andres ;  Santiago ; 
Chicotengo ;   La  Santissima ;   La  Soledad  ;    San  Rafael ; 


216  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

San  Pablo  Mexicalcingo ;  San  Diego ;  La  Madalena ; 
Santa  Marta ;  Santa  Maria;  San  Isidoro  ;  San  Juan  Cal- 
vario ;  San  Juan  Tlanutla ;  San  Mateo ;  San  Miguelito 
(Little  Saint  Michael) ;  Jesus ;  San  Sebastian. 

One  of  the  old  churches  lying  deserted  in  the  fields 
might  be  purchased,  no  doubt,  and  utilized  for  the  basis 
of  a  picturesque  manor-house.  Suppose  we  should  take 
yonder  one,  for  instance,  down  by  the  Haciendita  de 
Cruce  Vivo — the  Little  Hacienda  of  the  Living  Cross  I 
A  cloud  is  just  now  passing  over,  marking  the  place 
with  a  dark  patch.  A  brook  is  leaping  white  through 
the  meadow,  trees  stretch  back  from  the  walls,  and  the 
rest  lying  in  strong  light  is  divided  by  patches  of  an  ex- 
quisite cultivation  with  the  regularity  of  market-gardens. 

We  dined,  at  Cholula,  at  the  clean  Fonda  de  la  Re- 
forma,  in  a  large,  brick-floored  room,  invaded  by  flowers 
from  a  court-yard  garden.  No  people  can  fashion  such 
charming  homes  without  excellent  traits;  so  much  is  pos- 
itive beyond  dispute.  We  were  admitted,  I  think,  to  the 
residence  portion  of  the  house,  the  owner  of  which  was  a 
doctor,  and  we  examined,  while  waiting  for  our  repast,  a 
lot  of  his  antiquated  medical  books,  some  dating  from 
1700. 

The  plaza  is  as  large  as  at  Mexico,  but  grass-grown — for , 
the  place  is  of  but  modest  pretensions  now — and  lonely, 
except  on  market-day,  when  the  scene  is  as  gay  and  the 
costumes  even  prettier  than  at  Puebla  itself.  In  the  cen- 
tre is  a  Zocalo ;  at  one  side  a  vast  array  of  battlemented 
churches.  That  of  the  Capilla  Real,  consisting  of  three 
in  one,  is  now  decayed  and  abandoned.  On  the  other  is 
a  fine  colonnade  devoted  to  the  Ayuntamiento,  or  town 
council,  with  the  jail.  What  a  pity  it  is  that  we  have  so 
scant  accounts  left  us  of  the  life  of  Mexico  when  all  this 
feudal  magnificence  was  in  fuH  blast ! 


PUEBLA,  CnOLULA,  TLAXCALA. 


217 


PRISONERS   WEAVING   SASHES   AT   CHOLULA, 


218  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  FliOVINCES. 

I  cannot  sa)'  just  why  I  visited  so  many  prisons.  Per- 
]iai)s  becanse  they  were  always  under  tlie  eye,  adjoining 
the  public  offices,  and  the  prisoners  were  a  cheerful  lot, 
who  did  what  they  could  to  attract  attention.  At  Cho- 
lula  we  found  them  weaving,  on  a  primitive  kind  of 
liand-loom,  bright  sashes  of  red  and  blue,  which  are  sold 
in  part  for  their  own  benefit.  Their  accommodations 
compared  favorably  with  the  barracks  along-side.  When 
we  asked  questions  about  them  they  stopped  work  and 
listened  attentively.  The  guards,  I  fancy,  thought  we 
were  trying  to  identify  some  persons  who  had  robbed  us 
— not  conceiving  of  such  a  visit  for  the  pure  pleasure 
of  it. 

III. 

When  I  inquired  the  way  to  Tlaxcala  there  was  such 
an  ignorance  on  the  subject  at  my  hotel,  at  Puebla,  that  it 
almost  seemed  as  if  I  was  the  first  person  who  could  ever 
liave  been  there.  A  luxurious  Englishman  abandoned 
me  at  this  part  of  the  expedition,  claiming  that  nobody 
knew  whether  there  were  conveyances  from  the  junction, 
whether  there  were  even  inns.  It  seemed  to  him  a  case 
of  sitting  on  a  Tlaxcalan  door-step  and  perishing  of  hun- 
ger, or  being  washed  away  by  the  torrents  of  the  rainy 
season.  I  found,  however,  that  there  was  a  choice  of  two 
trains  a  day,  and  went  on  alone.  What  then?  I  suppose 
Cortez  did  rather  more  than  that.  Tlaxcala  was  the  most 
undaunted  and  terrible  of  all  his  enemies.  He  made  his 
way  to  it  after  insuperable  obstacles,  and  it  was  only  by 
the  alliance  of  the  warlike  Tlaxcalans,  when  he  had  finally 
won  them  over  to  his  cause,  that  he  effected  the  conquest  I 
of  Mexico. 

The  recollection  had  involuntarily  given  me  rather 
dark   and   depressing   ideas   of   Tlaxcala,  as   a  place   of 


PUEBLA,   CHOLULA,  TLAXCALA.  219 

gloomy  forests  and  gorges  suited  for  martial  resistance. 
Who  that  has  not  seen  it,  I  wonder,  has  the  proper  con- 
ception of  Tlaxcala? 

IV. 

It  is  not  gloomy;  there  are  no  forests;  the  country  is 
open  and  rolling ;  and  the  name  "  Tlaxcala,"  it  now  ap- 
pears, is  fertility,  the  "  Land  of  Bread."  I  left  at  11  a.m., 
and  arrived  at  the  village  of  Santa  Ana,  on  the  raih'oad 
to  Apizaco,  in  a  couple  of  hours.  After  a  time  a  convey- 
ance was  to  be  had,  in  the  shape  of  a  dilapidated  hack 
drawn  by  three  horses,  in  the  lead,  and  two  mules.  This 
was  run  as  a  stage-line  to  Tlaxcala ;  and  in  an  hour  more, 
largely  of  floundering  over  ruts  and  following  the  beds 
of  swollen  brooks — for  nobody  ever  thinks  of  mending  a 
road  in  Mexico — we  were  there.  We  met,  on  the  way,  the 
carriage  of  the  state  Governor,  an  ancient  coupe,  improved 
by  the  addition  of  a  boot,  and  drawn  by  two  horses  and 
two  mules.  I  was  deposited  on  the  sidewalk  at  the  upper 
side  of  a  plaza,  and  scrutinized  keenly  when  there  by  the 
shop-keepers  of  the  surrounding  arcades  and  loungers  on 
comfortable  stone  benches. 

Tlaxcalan  allies,  in  the  shape  of  a  small  boy  and  a 
larger  assistant,  seized  upon  my  satchel,  and  we  set  out 
for  a  personal  inspection  of  such  houses  of  entertainment 
as  were  to  be  heard  of.  The  Posada  of  Genius  was  alto- 
gether too  wretched  and  shabby,  as  is  apt  to  be  the  way 
with  genius.  The  Meson  of  the  — I  have  forgotten  its 
name — was  too  full  to  offer  accommodation,  and  had  a 
morose  landlord,  who  seemed  to  rejoice  in  the  fact.  I 
came  at  last  to  a  house  where  simply  chambers  were  to 
be  let.  It  was  highly  commended  by  my  smaller  Tlaxca- 
lan ally,  a  very  rapid-talking  small  boy,  with  the  air  of 
one  niuch  in  the  habit  of  dodging  missiles. 


220         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

"It  will  be  two  reals"  (twentj-five  cents)  "the  niglit, 
as  you  see  it,"  said  the  proprietor,  waving  a  hand  in  an 
interior  bare  of  furniture. 

"  Ah  !  two  reals  the  night !" 

"  But  perhaps  the  gentleman  would  desire  also  a  bed, 
a  wash-stand,  and  a  looking-glass  ?" 

"  Yes,  let  us  say  a  bed,  wash-stand,  and  looking-glass." 

"  Then  it  will  be  four  reals  the  night." 

The  larger  Tlaxealan  ally,  who  had  had  nothing  to  do, 
established  a  claim  for  services  by  offering  praise  of  each 
successive  article  of  furniture  as  it  was  brought  in,  as, 
"J/?/y  huena  cama^  senor P''  '•'■  Miiy  h&nito  espejoP'' — "A 
very  fine  bed,  seiior!"  "A  very  charming  mirror,  senor  1" 
— and  the  like. 

V. 

Now,  all  this  is  all  exactly  as  it  happened,  and  one 
should  hardly  be  compelled  to  spoil  a  good  story  by  add- 
ing to  it.  Yet  this  appearance  of  amusing  stupidity  is 
dissipated,  after  all,  by  remembering  the  methods  of 
travel  in  the  country.  Many,  or  most,  journeys  are 
made  on  horseback,  and  the  guest  is  likely  to  want  only 
a  room  where  he  can  lock  up  his  saddle  and  saddle-bags 
and  sleep  on  his  own  blankets,  or,  if  luxurious,  on  a  light 
cot,  carried  with  other  baggage  on  a  pack-miile.  This  is 
all  the  accommodation  provided  at  the  general  run  of 
the  mesones. 

At  the  Fonda  y  Cafe  de  la  Sociedad  I  supped,  by  the 
light  of  two  candles,  with  a  gentleman  in  long  riding- 
boots,  who  had  a  paper-mill  in  the  neighborhood.  He 
told  me  that  he  had  learned  the  business  at  Philadelphia. 
He  was  of  a  friendly  disposition,  and  declared  that  I  was 
to  consider  him  henceforth  my  correspondent,  so  far  as 
I  might  have  need  of  one,  on  all  matters,  commercial  and 


PUEBLA,  CHOLULA,  TLAXCALA.  221 

otherwise,  at  Tl;ixcala.  And  to  that  extent  I  may  eay  I 
do  so  consider  hiiu  to  this  day. 

My  room  had,  first,  a  pair  of  glass  doors,  then  a  pair  of 
heavy  wooden  ones,  and  opened  on  a  damp  little  court, 
in  which  the  rain  was  falling.  There  were  no  windows 
nor  transom,  positively  no  other  opening  than  a  couple 
of  diminutive  holes  in  the  wooden  door,  like 

"The  fiery  eyes  of  Pauguk  glaring  at  him  through  the  darkness," 

as  one  awoke  to  them  in  the  early  morning.  An- 
other streak  under  the  door  figured  as  a  sort  of  mouth. 
There  was  a  clashing  of  swords  in  a  corner  of  the  shady 
and  handsome  Zocalo  when  1  went  out,  and  I  fancied  at 
first  a  duel,  but  it  was  only  a  couple  of  Rurales  going 
through  their  sabre  exercise  under  direction  of  an  ofiScer. 
The  morning  was  bright  and  beautiful.  Hucksters  were 
putting  up  their  stands  in  the  arcades  for  the  day's  busi- 
ness. A  new  market  elsewhere,  consisting  of  a  series  of 
light,  open  pavilions,  was  one  of  the  best  in  arrangement 
I  have  ever  seen. 

Tlaxcala  recalls  some  such  provincial  Italian  place  as 
Este,  seat  of  the  famous  historic  house  of  that  name.  It 
has  once  been  more  important  than  now.  The  persons 
of  principal  consideration  are  the  state  employes.  It  is 
the  capital  of  the  smallest  of  the  states,  the  Riiode  Island 
or  Delaware  of  the  Mexican  federation.  I  entered  the 
quarters  of  the  Legislature,  and  found  there  the  Gov- 
ernor, a  small,  fat,  Indian -looking  man,  scarred  with  a 
deep  cut  on  his  cheek,  conferring  with  a  committee  of 
his  law-makers.  There  are  eight  of  these  in  all,  and  they 
receive  an  annual  stipend  of  $1000  each.  In  the  legisla- 
tive hall  a  space  is  railed  off  for  the  president  and  two 
secretaries.  There  is  a  little  tribune  at  this  rail,  from 
which  the  speeches  are  made.     The  members  face  each 


222 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


Other,  ill  two  rows,  and  comfortably  smoke  during  their 
sessions,  after  the  custom  of  the  Congress  at  Mexico  also. 
The  rest  is  reserved  for  spectators.  On  the  walls  are  four 
quaint  old  portraits  of  the  earliest  chiefs  converted  to 
Christianity,  all  with  "  Don  "  before  their  names. 

The  secretary  of  the  Ayuntamieuto  has  in  a  glass  case 
in  his  office  some  few  idols,  the  early  charter  of  the  city 
and  regulations  of  the  province,  and  the  tattered  silken 
banner  carried  by  Cortez  in  the  conquest.  This  last,  once 
a  rich  crimson,  is  faded  to  a  shabby  coffee-color,  and  the 
silver  has  vanished  from  its  spear-head,  showing  copper 
beneath.  Tossed  into  corners  were  two  large  heaps  of 
old,  vellum-bonnd  books  from  the  convents.  This  is  a 
common  enough  sight  in  Mexico.  Treasures  are  abun- 
dant here  which  our  own  connoisseurs  would  delight  to 
treat  with  the  greatest  respect.  Apart  from  this  there  is 
no  other  museum  nor  especial  display  of  antiquity.  The 
town,  kept  nicely  whitewashed,  looks  rather  new.  It  con- 
tains, however,  the  oldest  church 
in  Mexico.  The  chapel  of  San 
Francisco,  part  of  a  dismantled 
convent,  now  used  as  a  barracks, 
bears  the  date  of  1529,  and  with- 
in it  are  the  first  baptismal  font 
(the  same  in  which  the  Tlaxca- 
lan  chiefs  above-mentioned  were 
baptized  by  Cortez)  and  the  first 
Christian  pulpit  in  America. 
The  ceiling  is  of  panelled  cedar, 
picked  out  with  gilded  suns  and 
the  like.  The  approacli  is  up  an  inclined  plane,  shaded 
with  ash-trees.  Through  three  large  arches  of  an  entrance 
gate-way,  flanked  by  a  tower,  the  town  below  appears  as 
through  a  series  of  frames.     A  massive  church  in  the 


OLD    FONT   AT   TLAXCALA. 


PUEBLA,  CHOLULA,   TLAXCALA. 


223 


town  plaza  was  cracked  and  unfitted  for  use  by  an  earth- 
quake in  the  year  1800,  and  its  ruins  stand  untouched, 
with  the  bells  still  hanging  in  the  steeple. 


THE    FIRST    CHRISTIAN    PULPIT    IN    AMERICA.       TLAXCALA. 


To  counterbalance  this  a  modern  church,  very  white, 
and  a  landmark  to  all  the  country  round  about,  has  been 
put  up  on  the  high  hill  of  Ocatlan,  a  couple  of  miles 
back.  I  climbed  there  and  looked  down  upon  the  pros- 
pect. Women  and  girls  were  going  up  to  the  sanctuary 
with  bunches  of  roses,  on  some  religious  errand.  There 
were  wild  pinks  by  the  wayside,  the  air  was  full  of  the 
twittering  of  birds,  and  the  chimes  rang  musically. 
Looked  down  upon  from  the  height,  Tlaxcala  was  seen 


22 i  OLD  MEXICO  AND  JIEli   LOST  PROVINCES. 


PAKT  OF  CONVENT  OF  SAN  FRANCISCO.   TLAXCALA. 

to  be  a  compact  little  place,  flat-roofed,  low,  almost  ex- 
actly square.  The  wide  bed  of  the  Zatuapan  River,  now 
very  shallow,  wound  by  it.  The  opposite  hills,  hung 
over  by  vapors  and  rain-clouds  with  changing  lights 
among  them,  were  now  purplish  and  now  indigo  black. 


VI. 

On  the  floor  above  me  at  my  lodging  resided,  in  a 
comfortable  way,  a  doctor.  He  had  with  him  a  friend, 
French  by  nationality  but  long  resident  at  Mexico,  who 
was  at  present  paseando  a  little  here  for  his  health.     This 


PUEBLA,  VIIOLULA,   TLAXCALA.  225 

gentleman  confided  to  me,  mysteriously,  that,  since  spend- 
ing some  time  here,  he  had  reason  to  believe  that  there 
were  mines  of  silver  and  gold  in  the  vicinity.  In  fact, 
he  knew  of  some.  "  An  Indian,  some  ycuvs,  ago,"  he  said, 
"brought  to  the  padre  of  one  of  the  churches  two  pa- 
pers containing  a  fine  dust.  It  was  jpoudre  d''or — gold 
dust — nothing  less.     What  do  you  think  of  that?" 

I  thought  highly  of  it — as  I  always  do  of  treasure 
stories;  nothing  is  more  entertaining. 

"  There  are  indications,  in  reading  history,"  he  went 
on,  "  that  much  of  the  supply  of  the  precious  metals  in 
the  time  of  the  Conquerors  was  taken  from  here.  You 
are  aware  that  most  of  the  valuable  mines  were  aban- 
doned by  the  Spaniards  in  the  terrors  of  the  War  of  In- 
dependence, and  have  never  since  been  worked.  Often 
their  very  location  has  been  forgotten.  I  have  a  friend 
here  who  has  certain  knowledge  of  a  place  where  poudre 
d''or  can  be  found." 

He  paused,  perhaps  to  allow  an  offer  to  be  made  for 
an  interest  in  the  attractive  enterprise,  but  none  was 
made. 

He  continued,  alluringly:  "It  is  my  intention  to  enter 
into  thorough  explorations,  now  that  I  have  leisure,  as 
soon  as  my  health  is  slightly  more  restored." 

I  took  the  seat  beside  the  driver  on  the  ancient  convey- 
ance, going  back  to  Santa  Ana.  We  went  along  sandy 
lanes,  in  which  the  rain  of  the  night  before  was  almost 
dry,  and  between  hedges  of  maguey.  Maize  on  the  right 
— tall  but  slender,  and  without  the  large  ears  we  are  ac- 
customed to ;  barley  and  wheat  on  the  left.  All  the 
country  fertile.  Malinche  boldly  in  sight,  and  a  sky  of 
rolling  clouds,  as  in  Holland.  Shock-headed  Indian  chil- 
dren, with  a  Chinese  look,  holding  babies,  and  peering  at 
us  out  of  rifts  in  palisades  of  organ-cactus.     Bright  skeins 

10* 


226         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  wool  in  door-yards,  and  glimpses  of  peasants  weaving 
scrapes  in  interiors.  I  recollect  that  morning  as  one  of 
a  few  of  unalloyed  content.  Perhaps  it  was  because,  in 
being  at  Tlaxcala,  I  had  gratified  a  curiosity  of  an  excep' 
tional  eagerness. 


MINES  AND  MINING,  AT  I'AQHUVA    AND  REOLA.     'Z^l 


XVIII. 

MINES  AND  MINING    TRAITS,  AT  PACHUCA  AND  REGLA. 

I. 

We  bonglit  tickets  for  Pachnca  at  the  Hotel  Gillow, 
in  Mexico.  Pachnca,  one  of  the  earliest,  and  richest,  of 
the  mining  districts  in  the  country,  notable  for  botli  its 
earlier  and  later  history,  is,  fortunately,  also  one  of  the 
most  accessible  to  tlie  traveller  from  the  capital. 

We  took  the  train,  from  Buena  Yista  Station,  at  six  in 
the  morning.  At  Ometusco,  forty  miles  down  the  Vera 
Cruz  Line,  a  group  of  diligences  stood  in  waiting.  Our 
own  proved  to  be  drawn  by  eight  mules — two  wheelers, 
four  in  the  centre,  and  two  leaders.  We  jolted  along  exe- 
crable roads,  turned  out  where  the  mud-holes  threatened 
to  engulf  us,  and  rode  instead  over  high  maguey  stumps 
which  threatened  to  hurl  us  back  into  them.  The  coun- 
try was  covered  with  magueys.  The  driver,  by  whom  I 
sat,  on  the  box-seat,  for  the  better  view  of  what  was  pass- 
ing, asked  me,  in  a  patronizing  way, 

"Have  the  Norte  Americanos  also  pulque?  and  do 
they  se  horrachan  (get  drunk)  with  it,  like  people  here  ?" 

We  reached  San  Agostin,  a  shabby  adobe  hamlet,  at 
eleven  o'clock,  waited  there  a  while  for  the  Philadelphia- 
built  horse-car  on  the  tramway,  of  which  I  have  before 
spoken,  and  were  at  Pachuca  about  sundown.  As  to  sce- 
nery, historically,  and  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  re- 
turns, Pachuca  is  rivalled  among  mining  districts  perhaps 


'228  OLD   MEXICO   AXD   HER   LOST  FJIOVLXCES. 

only  by  Guanajuato;  but  tlic  place  itself  is  shabby,  and, 
lying  nine  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  its  atmosphere  is 
raw  and  penetrating  even  in  Jul}'.  Regularly  every  after- 
noon blow  up  a  breeze  and  a  dust  like  those  which  have 
attained  celebrity  at  San  Francisco. 

Tiiere  were  said  to  be  ten  thousand  miners  at  work  in 
the  district.  Perhaps  live  hundred  are  British  subjects, 
originally  from  the  tin  mines  of  Cornwall.  They  n)ani- 
fest  in  their  new  surroundings  a  rude  independence  of 
character  amounting  to  surliness.  1  heard  here  of  my 
French  engineer  who  had  been  sent  over  to  examine 
mining  property.  He  had  eccentrically  given  his  left 
hand,  after  a  way  some  Frenchmen  have,  to  the  captain 
of  one  of  the  mines,  on  his  descent,  and  the  colony  talked 
of  nothing  but  this.  They  had  banded  together  to  guy 
and  mislead  him  in  his  inquiries  as  much  as  possible,  and 
one  of  them  told  me,  with  a  bitterness  the  trivial  circum- 
stance hardly  seemed  to  warrant,  that  if  he  came  again, 
with  his  supercilious  way  of  treating  people,  they  would 
try  to  tumble  him  into  some  pit.  Our  poor  friend,  I 
fear,  went  away,  if  he  believed  what  was  told  him,  with 
some  very  singular  items  of  information. 


II. 

Pachuca  has  become  a  good-sized  city  within  a  compar- 
atively modern  period,  while  Real  del  Monte,  adjoining, 
once  more  important,  vStill  remains  a  village.  The  Eng- 
lish element  is  not  new  in  either.  There  was  probably 
more  of  it  toward  1827  than  even  now.  On  the  close  of 
the  War  of  Independence  an  impression  went  abroad  of 
most  brilliant  profits  awaiting  whoever  would  furnish 
capital  to  reopen  and  work  the  old  Spanish  mines  aban- 
doned and  ruined  in  the  disasters  of  the  long  struggle. 


•  illNES  AND  MINING,  AT  PACUCHA   AND  REOLA.     229 

The  idea  was  seized  upon  with  especial  avidity  in  Eng- 
land. It  was  represented  that  but  two  simple  things  were 
needed:  the  pumping-out  of  the  water  which  had  ac- 
cumulated in  the  disused  shafts,  and  improved  machinery 
for  working  at  lower  levels,  than  those  which  liad  been 
within  the  reach  of  the  primitive  appliances  of  the  coun- 
try. Seven  great  English  companies  were  formed,  which 
proceeded  to  pour  out  millions  upon  millions  of  pounds, 
distributing  the  money  among  the  several  mining  dis- 
tricts of  chief  repute ;  and  these  half  depopulated  Corn- 
wall for  laborers  for  the  new  interests.  The  idea  was 
in  itself  a  good  one.  Mexico  had  produced  in  three  hnn- 
dred  years  of  mining,  according  to  the  estimate  of  Hum- 
boldt, $1,767,952,000  of  value  in  the  precious  metals. 
The  yield  had  been  going  on  before  the  Revolution  at 
the  rate  of  $30,000,000  yearly.  It  was  an  industry  of 
the  greatest  regularity.  From  3000  to  5000  mines  were 
in  operation,  and  constituted  its  chief  wealth.  Its  towns 
were  mining  towns;  its  great  families  mining  families. 
The  funds  from  this  source  had  built  the  churches,  the 
dams  for  irrigation  by  which  the  great  agricultural 
estates  were  brought  under  cultivation,  and  had  supplied 
the  gifts  and  loans  to  the  King  by  which  the  nobility 
secured  their  titles.  By  tlie  Revolution  this  source  of 
w^ealth  was  exhausted  and  dried  up.  The  new  Congress 
of  the  country  felt  the  imperative  need  of  doing  some- 
thing to  reopen  it,  and  encouraged  the  advent  of  foreign 
capital  by  a  legislation  which  is  still  felt  as  a  liberalizing 
influence  in  mining  matters. 

The  idea  was  a  good  one,  as  I  say,  but  the  foreign 'in- 
vestors did  not  sufficiently  estimate  the  difficulties  of  their 
undertaking,  the  novelty  of  the  country,  language,  per- 
sons, and  processes,  and  the  physical  obstacles  with  which 
they  had  to  deal.     Almost  without  exception  they  lost 


230  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

money.  Tlie  "boom"  of  1824  was  followed  by  a  panic 
in  1826,  a  general  depression  at  home,  and,  in  course  of 
time,  the  transfer  of  the  interests  to  cheaper  hands. 

Among  the  English  companies  mentioned  was  the  Real 
del  Monte  Company,  which  bought  up,  among  others,  all 
the  mines  of  the  Count  of  Regla,  at  Real  del  Monte  and 
Pachuca.  These  had  produced  in  fifty  years  $26,500,000. 
The  history  of  the  growth  of  the  Count's  magnificence  is 
briefly  this.  His  principal  vein,  the  Biscaina,  had  been 
worked  continuously  from  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  Its  yield  in  1726  was  nearly  $4,500,000.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  abandoned 
in  consequence  of  the  impossibility  of  drainage  with  the 
defective  appliances  of  that  day.  A  shrewd  individual 
took  up  these  mines  anew  in  later  years,  and  associated 
with  him  Don  Pedro  Tereros,  a  small  capitalist,  who  be- 
came his  heir.  In  1762  Tei'eros  struck  a  bonanza,  and  in 
twelve  years  took  out  $6,000,000.  He  procured  the  title 
of  Count  of  Regla  by  his  munificent  gifts  to  Charles  III., 
and,  investing  his  money  judiciously,  entered  upon  the 
career  of  splendor  to  which  reference  has  heretofore  been 
made. 

By  1801,  however,  he  found  himself  at  such  a  depth 
with  his  levels  that  the  yield  was  insufficient  to  pay  the 
expenses  of  extraction,  and  the  mines  were  again  disused. 
It  was  in  this  condition  that  the  English  company  took 
them,  knowing  full  well  that  there  was  treasure  in  the 
deeper  levels,  and  proposing  to  bring  it  out  with  its 
improved  machinery  and  Cornish  labor. 

The  director  took  a  salary  of  $40,000  a  year,  built  him- 
self a  castellated  palace,  and  rode  out  with  a  body-guard 
of  fifty  horsemen.  A  magnificent  road  was  built  to  Reg- 
la, six  leagues  away.  The  only  access  thither,  for  the  six 
hundred  mules  of  the  Count  of  Regla,  had  been  by  a  dan- 


MINES  AND  MINING,  AT  FACIIUVA   AND   REdLA.     231 

gerous  bridle-path.  Five  large  steam-engines  and  lesser 
machinery  were  dragged  up  from  the  coast  at  Yera  Cruz, 
occupying  the  labor  of  a  hundred  men  and  seven  hundred 
mules  for  five  months. 

In  all  this  probably  a  million  pounds  was  consumed. 
Treasure  was  not  found  as  expected — what  there  was  ap- 
pearing instead  in  new  mines.  After  struggling  hope- 
lessly a  while  the  management  passed  into  other  hands. 
The  parade  was  dispensed  with,  and  the  costly  machinery 
sold  out,  to  a  Mexican  company,  for  about  its  value  as 
old  iron,  and  then  the  property  began  to  pay. 

An  English  "Anglo-Mexican  Company"  also  owned 
mines  at  Pachuca,  and  in  like  manner  came  to  grief. 
There  was  an  element  of  luck  in  all  this,  too,  it  must  be 
admitted.  Less  than  a  hundred  feet  from  where  work 
was  stopped  in  the  Rosario,  for  instance,  one  of  the  mines 
of  the  latter,  the  new  company  struck  a  bonanza,  which 
has  been  paying  munificently  ever  since. 

The  present  director,  Seiior  Llandero  y  Cos,  a  brother 
of  the  Secretary  of  State,  lives  in  the  same  castellated 
palace,  but  on  a  simpler  scale.  I  had  reason  to  know 
that  even  he  had  had  not  a  little  to  suffer  from  the 
fierce  independence  of  his  surrounding  Cornishmen.  I 
descended  into  two  of  the  richest  mines,  Santa  Gertrudis 
and  San  Rosario.  Of  these  Santa  Gertrudis  has  paid  in 
a  brief  space  thirty-nine  dividends  of  $20,000  each. 


III. 

The  interior,  even  of  the  richest  Mexican  silver-mine, 
is  hardly  what  the  novice  might  expect.  You  put  a  can- 
dle, pasted  by  a  lump  of  mud,  on  the  top  of  your  hat  and 
crawl  through  all  sorts  of  dark  and  dripping  holes.  Now 
and  then  a  guide  flashes  his  light  on  some  black  and  gray- 


232  OLD   MEXICO   AND   HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 

isli  discolocatioiis  with  a  look  of  professional  pride,  but 
you  do  not  exactly  fall  down  in  ecstasy  over  these.  There 
are  no  folks  and  spoons  hanging  ready  to  your  hand,  no 
presentation  plate,  nor  even  ingots.  The  heaps  of  ore 
about  the  shafts  do  not  glitter,  and  seem  good  for  little 
but  to  mend  the  roads.  The  principal  shafts  are  about 
sixteen  feet  in  diameter,  the  galleries  five  by  eight,  and 
spaced  about  eighty  feet  apart.  At  the  San  Pedro  mine 
the  pumping-engine  was  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  horse- 
power, and  another  of  the  same  power  drew  up  the  mal- 
acate,  or  skip,  full  of  ore  in  bags  of  maguey  fibre.  In 
some  of  the  old  mines,  at  Guanajuato  and  San  Luis  Po- 
tosi,  they  tell  us,  peons  still  tote  the  ore  np  the  intermi- 
nable ladders  on  their  backs;  but  this,  I  think,  must  be 
rare.  The  depth  of  the  Santa  Gertrudis  is  about  six  hun- 
dred feet.  The  material  is  marl,  limestone,  and  quartz, 
all  of  a  soft  character  and  easy  to  work,  but  requiring  a 
heavy  timbering-up.  The  clothing  of  the  laborers  is  ran- 
sacked for  nuggets  by  three  separate  searchers  in  turn,  as 
they  emerge  from  their  work. 

There  is  a  Government  School  of  Practical  Mining  at 
Pachuca,  to  which  students  are  sent  after  finishing  the 
theoretical  course  at  the  Mineria,  or  school  of  technology, 
in  Mexico.  The  director,  an  affable  man,  showed  us  the 
process  of  beneficiating,  or  extracting  the  metal  from  the 
rough  ore,  in  miniature.  You  see  the  rock  first  crushed 
and  reduced,  with  water,  to  a  paste,  then  mingled  with 
sulphate  of  copper,  common  salt,  and  quicksilver,  which 
get  hold  of  the  metal.  The  quicksilver  is  afterward  w'ith- 
di'awn  and  reserved  for  continued  use.  He  gave  me,  also, 
a  pamphlet  of  his  on  a  new  form  of  application  of  "La 
Accion  Mechanica  del  Viento" — the  mechanical  action 
of  the  wind.  A  large  wind -mill  M-as  moving  in  the 
c(Mii't-ynr(l  made  in  accordance  with  his  principle,  which 


MIXES  AND   MINI  NO,  AT  PACIIUCA    AND  REGLA.     233 

substituted  lai"ge  zinc  cones  for  the  ordinary  sails  and 
slats. 

The  extracting  processes  were  more  entertainingly  seen, 
however,  at  the  beneficiating  haciendas  themselves.  The 
"  Loreto "  is  one  of  the  principal.  The  ore  is  crushed 
either  by  the  Cornish  stamp,  which  drops  a  succession  of 
iron-shod  beams  upon  it;  the  Chilean  mill,  which  grinds 
it  by  means  of  superposed  revolving  stones;  or  the  ar- 
rastra.  The  last  is  the  most  primitive,  cheapest,  and  still 
most  in  use.  The  crushing  is  done  b}^  common  stones, 
hung  to  the  arms  of  a  horizontal  cross,  dragged  round  and 
round  in  a  circular  bed  by  mule-power. 

Then  follows  the  making  of  tortas,  "  the  patio  system," 
which  had  its  origin  here  in  1557.  Numerous  large  mud- 
pies  of  the  powdered  ore  and  w^ater  are  laid  out  on  a  vast 
open  court  floored  with  wood.  The  chemicals  mentioned 
are  thrown  in  in  successive  stages,  and  troops  of  broken- 
down  horses  are  driven  around  in  the  mass  for  from  two 
to  three  weeks  in  succession,  thoroughly  mingling  it  to- 
gether. It  is  then  brought  in  wheel-barrow  loads  to  wash- 
ing-tanks, where  men  and  boys  puddle  it  bare-legged  till 
the  metal  falls  to  tlie  bottom  and  the  detritus  runs  away. 
"Rebellious"  ores  are  treated  by  first  calcining,  then  sep- 
arating with  mercury  by  "  the  barrel  process."  This  last 
is  done  chiefly  at  the  hacienda  of  Velasco,  on  the  way  to 
Regla. 

Of  the  two  hundred  and  sixtj'-seven  mines  in  the  dis- 
trict, seven  are  worked  by  the  Ileal  del  Monte  Company. 
The  paying  mines  are  comparatively  new,  discovered 
within  the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years.  The  old  Spanish 
mines  do  not  pay,  and  are,  in  fact,  little  worked.  The 
stories  of  old  Spanish  mines,  abandoned,  perforce,  at  the 
date  of  the  Independence,  and  ready  to  yield  splendid 
returns  to  whoever  will  reopen  them,  serves  very  well  as 


234  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

romance;  but  it  mnst  be  reinerabered  that  sixty  years 
have  elapsed  since  the  Independence,  and  there  have  been 
plenty  of  prospectors  with  a  shrewd  eye  for  gain  in  the 
country  in  tlie  mean  time.  The  Mexicans  themselves  are 
good  miners.  It  will  not  do  to  look  on  with  arnused  con- 
tempt even  where  very  primitive  processes  are  largely 
retained,  for  these  are  often  better  adapted  to  the  pecul- 
iar conditions  than  any  others.  Thus  the  puddling  of 
the  tortas  by  mules  and  human  legs,  with  labor  at  but 
thirty  cents  a  day,  is  deliberately  preferred  to  machinery. 

Whoever  might  care  to  make  purchases  in  such  a  place 
would  do  well  to  buy  among  the  newly  discovered  mines. 
Or  one  may  yet  prospect  for  himself,  for  the  district  ap- 
pears by  no  means  exhausted.  Robbers  in  the  state  of 
Hidalgo  long  served  as  an  impediment  to  freedom  of 
prospecting  in  out-of-the-way  places,  and  it  is  only  of  late 
that  their  power  has  been  broken.  The  last  Governor 
is  said  to  have  shot  three  hundred  of  them.  Wild-cat 
properties  and  pitfalls  of  the  usual  sort  await  the  un- 
wary here.  That  perversity  which,  by  some  natural  law, 
seems  to  take  hold  upon  dealers  in  mines  as  well  as  in 
horses  possesses  them  in  Mexico  not  less  than  elsewhere. 

The  Mexican  mine  is  divided  into  twenty-four  imagi- 
nary equal  parts,  harras,  and  fractional  parts  of  these  are 
bought  and  sold  as  its  stock. 


IV. 

As  to  the  mining  laws  of  the  countrj^,  I  have  heard 
them  described  by  some  Americans  as  better  than  our 
own.  In  certain  respects  tliis  is  true.  The  reprehensi- 
ble looseness  with  which  our  American  "  district  recoi'd- 
ers"  receive  conflicting  claims  covering  the  same  property 
many  times  over  is  unknown.     An  official  goes  to  the 


MINES  AND  MINING,  AT  PACHUCA   AND   REG  LA.     235 

field  and  settles  the  equity  of  the  case  at  once,  and  never 
records  but  one  title.  Litigation  about  the  original  title 
of  a  Mexican  mine  is  almost  unknown,  while  that  of  an 
American  mine  of  any  value  is  invariably  in  litigation. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  some  drawbacks.  While 
a  foreigner  may  hold  property  in  mines  in  Mexico  with- 
out being  subject  to  the  obligation  of  residence,  as  in  re- 
spect to  other  real  estate,  provided  he  have  a  resident 
partner,  nobody  in  Mexico,  foreigner  or  otherwise,  can 
acquire  a  mine  outright  and  in  absolute  ownership.  He 
cannot  own  it  in  fee,  no  matter  what  sum  he  paj's  for  it. 
The  legal  theory  is  that  the  title  to  a  mine  is  only  that 
of  "conditional  possession,"  and  in  the  nature  of  usu 
fruct,  which  is  "  the  right  of  using  and  enjoying  a  thing 
of  which  the  owner  is  another."  On  violation  of  the 
conditions  the  title  reverts  to  the  sovereignty — formerly 
the  King  of  Spain,  now  the  Republic  of  Mexico.  The 
body  of  the  Ordinances  as  at  present  followed  was  pro- 
mulgated by  the  King  of  Spain  in  the  year  1783.  To 
allow  a  mine  to  stand  idle  is  assumed  to  be  an  injury  to 
those  who  might  otherwise  work  and  extract  profit  from 
it.     It  is  enacted,  therefore,  as  follows  : 

"I  (the  King)  order  and  command  that  any  one  who 
shall  for  four  consecutive  months  fail  to  work  a  mine, 
with  four  operatives,  regularly  employed,  and  occupied 
in  some  interior  or  exterior  work  of  real  utility  and  ad- 
vantage, shall  thereby  forfeit  the  right  which  he  may 
have  to  the  mine,  and  it  shall  belong  to  the  denouncer 
who  proves  its  desertion." 

The  method  of  acquiring  title  to  a  new  and  original 
mine  is  to  go  before  the  proper  officer  in  the  district 
in  which  it  has  been  discovered  and  register  a  claim. 
Ninety  days  is  then  allowed  to  any  other  persons  who 
may  advance  pretensions  to  it  also,  to  appear,  after  which 


23G  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

it  is  confirmed  to  liiiii  whose  case  is  best  established. 
Abandoned  and  forfeited  properties  are  "denounced" 
by  a  similar  formality.  Veins  or  mines  may  be  de- 
nounced not  only  on  common  lands,  but  those  of  any 
]>rivate  individual,  on  paying  for  the  surface  occupied. 
In  order,  however,  to  obviate  malicious  or 'idle  destruc- 
tion, the  searcher  may  be  made  to  give  security,  before 
beginning  his  trial,  for  any  damage  he  may  occasion  to 
the  owner  of  the  ground.  Sites  and  waters  for  reduc- 
ing works  are  included  in  the  same  permission. 

The  denouncer  must  take  possession  and  begin  the 
prescribed  work  within  sixty  days.  The  discoverer  may 
have  three  pertenencias,  or  claims,  continuous  or  inter- 
rupted, on  any  principal  vein  which  is  absolutely  new. 
The  ijerteiiencia  consists  of  two  hundred  metres  along 
the  line  of  the  vein  and  one  hundred  on  each  side  (or  as 
the  miner  may  desire),  as  measured  on  a  level.  A  per- 
son, not  the  discoverer,  can  denounce  two  contiguous 
mines,  on  the  same  vein,  but  one  may  acquire  as  many 
others  as  he  likes  by  purchase. 

The  ancient  code  created  a  General  Tri-bunal  of  Min- 
ing for  New  Spain,  and  gave  it  cognizance  of  all  mining 
matters.  It  was  composed  of  a  President,  Director-gen- 
eral, and  three  Deputies -general,  elected  by  the  Reales^ 
or  mining  districts,  and  two  Deputies  besides,  elected  by 
each  Real.  The  Real  had  to  be  a  place  containing  a 
church,  six  mines,  and  four  reducing  establishments,  in 
actual  operation.  The  qualifications  for  holding  ofiice 
"were,  that  one  should  have  been  engaged  in  practical 
mining  for  ten  years,  that  he  shonld  be  an  American,  or 
European  Spaniard,  free  from  all  inferior  blood,  and  that 
he  should  agree  to  "defend  the  niystery  of  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  of  Our  Lady." 

It  would  seem  that  offices  were  not  always  in  as  active 


MINES  AND   MINING,  AT  FACUCHA   AND   REG  LA.     237 

demand  as  in  our  days,  for  heavy  fines  are  enacted  for 
non-acceptance  on  election,  besides  being  con)pelled  to 
serve  afterward.  An  honest  and  straightforward  purpose 
appears  in  the  rules  of  procedure  quite  worthy  of  imita- 
tion elsewhere.     Let  us  cite  some  examples. 

"As  said  classes  of  causes  and  suits,"  says  the  King, 
"  ought  to  be  determined  between  the  parties  briefly  and 
summarily,  according  to  manifest  truth  and  good  faith, 
as  in  commercial  transactions,  without  allowing  delays, 
declarations,  or  writings  of  lawyers,  it  is  my  will  that 
whenever  any  persons  appear  in  said  Hoyal  Ti'ibunals  .  .  . 
to  institute  any  action,  they  (the  tribunals)  shall  not  ad- 
mit any  complaint  or  petition  in  writing  until  after  they 
have  cited  the  parties  before  them,  if  it  be  possible,  so 
that,  hearing  orally  their  complaints  and  answers,  they 
may  settle  with  the  greatest  despatch  the  suits  or  dispute 
between  them  ;  and  not  being  able  to  succeed  in  this,  and 
the  matter  in  question  exceeding  the  value  of  two  hun- 
dred dollars,  petitions  in  writing  will  be  admitted,  pro- 
vided they  be  not  drawn  up,  arranged,  or  signed  by  law- 
yers. ...  In  the  judgments  which  may  be  pronounced  no 
consideration  shall  be  paid  to  any  default  in  observing 
the  minute  formalities  of  the  law,  or  to  inaccuracies  or 
other  defects;  but,  in  whatever  stage  of  the  proceedings 
the  truth  may  be  ascertained,  the  causes  shall  be  decided 
and  adjudged." 

The  legal  fraternity  had  secured  a  repute  for  some- 
times misleading  justice,  it  is  seen,  even  so  far  back  as 
this.  There  appears  to  have  been  a  Consulado,  or  Tri- 
bunal of  Commerce,  upon  pi-etty^  much  the  same  plan. 
This  ancient  system  has  been  swept  away  by  various 
stages.  Since  the  day  of  the  republic  the  power  once 
vested  in  the  old  tribunal  has  been  lodged  with  the  ordi- 
nary civil  courts  and  political  authorities. 


238  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

It  is  doubtful  whether  mining  has  ever  been  pursued 
to  better  advantage,  made  more  productive  and  regular, 
and  more  effectively  freed  from  the  element  of  wild-cat 
speculation,  than  in  New  Spain  of  the  period  considered. 

There  were  decrees  to  prevent  miners,  especially  those 
of  affluence,  from  wasting  their  substance.  Negligence  in 
tunnelling,  imperfect  ventilation,  and  the  like,  by  which 
life  and  health  are  endangered,  were  severely  punished. 

Criminals  and  vagabonds  were  made  to  labor  in  the 
mines,  but  the  main  bulk  of  laborers  in  early  times  con- 
sisted of  the  Indians,  apportioned  to  proprietors  as  repar- 
ta7nientos,  and  held  in  a  kind  of  slavery. 


V. 

The  gorgeous  Count  of  Regla  was  a  great  mine-owner 
here  in  his  day.  It  was  hence  that  he  would  have  taken 
the  ingots  for  the  King  of  Spain  to  ride  upon  from  the 
coast  to  the  capital,  should  they  have  been  called  for  by 
an  actual  acceptance  of  his  splendid  invitation  before 
mentioned. 

His  ancient  beneficlating  hacienda  of  Regla,  say  eigh- 
teen miles  from  Pachuca,  is  of  great  interest,  A  most 
excellent  wagon-road,  constructed  by  the  Real  del  Monte 
Company,  at  large  expense,  leads  to  it.  As  many  as 
eighty  heavily  loaded  ore -wagons,  each  drawn  by  from 
eight  to  a  dozen  mules,  traverse  it  in  a  single  day. 

Senor  Llandero  y  Cos  kindly  provided  us,  for  this  and 
the  remaining  part  of  our  expedition,  with  horses  and  a 
mozo,  to  be  kept  at  our  convenience.  White  posts  of 
substantial  masonry  dotted  the  abrupt  slopes,  by  way  of 
locating  the  various  claims.  Some  lonesome -looking 
wooden  structures,  not  unlike  Swiss  chalets,  generally 
marked  the  shafts  of  the  smaller  mines  as  we  went  on- 


MmES  AiVD  MINING,  AT  PACHUCA   AND   REOLA.     239 

ward,  while  a  small  arrastra  or  two  was  turned  by  mule- 
power  in  the  neighborhood.  One,  called  the  Fortune,  if 
what  was  said  were  true,  should  rather  have  been  the 
Misfortune  or  the  Ill-fortune,  for  it  had  never  produced 
a  tlaco  of  profit. 

Convolvuli  and  fragrant  flor  de  San  Juan  touched 
wit-h  a  trace  of  beauty  the  sterile  hills.  Real  del  Monte, 
embowered  in  rich  woods,  presented  a  scene  like  a  fine 
landscape  in  Pennsylvania.  We  stopped  first  at  the  old 
Presidio^  above  the  Tereros  Mine,  where  the  convicts 
drafted  for  mining  labor  were  formerly  kept;  then  dis- 
mounted and  went  down  a  ravine,  to  see  the  mouth  of  a 
tunnel,  seven  thousand  yards  in  length,  built  to  drain  the 
works  of  the  original  Real  del  Monte  Company. 

Hamlets  were  set  near  togetlier  along  the  road,  and  the 
country  continued  bold  and  generously  wooded.  At  the 
abandoned  Moran  Mine,  one  of  the  Count  of  Regla's  prin- 
cipal treasure-stores  in  its  time,  we  found  picturesque  re- 
mains of  walls  and  columns,  Avith  a  round  tower,  which 
had  once  contained  a  hoisting  drum.  It  was  obliged  to 
be  abandoned,  like  the  Sanchez,  in  the  vicinity,  for  lack 
of  water.  Near  the  Sanchez  is  th.e  mouth  of  the  gen- 
eral drainage  tunnel  constructed  by  the  Count.  Esteemed 
very  important  in  its  day,  it  has  been  wholly  eclipsed  by 
works  on  a  larger  scale  prevailing  in  the  mean  time. 
Velasco,  where  "rebellious"  ores  are  treated,  is  presided 
over  by  an  English  superintendent.  He  had  in  use  a 
crushing-machine  of  still  a  different  pattern  from  those 
described.  Heavy  iron  rockers,  driven  by  steam-power, 
were  worked  back  and  forth  upon  the  ore  in  a  bath  of 
M^ater.  It  was  claimed  that  one- fourth  more  work  could 
be  done  with  this  at  an  equal  expenditure  of  power  than 
by  the  Chilean  mill.  Attached  to  the  establishment  in 
the  usual  way  were  a  charming  villa  and  gardens.     The 


240  OLD   .]fL'.\7C0  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

snperiiitcfulcnt  at  Paclnica  sometiiiics  came  there  to  pass 
a  fortnight's  vacation. 

The  innnediate  approach  to  Kegla  is  along  tlie  side 
of  a  deep  tropical  barranca.  Bananas  grow  generonslj 
within  it,  and  a  palm-thatched  Indian  vilhige  crowns  its 
opposite  verge.  The  liacienda  itself  is  set  down  in  a 
most  impressive  natural  formation.  It  is  encompassed 
hy  grand  colnmniated  cliffs  of  basalt,  like  those  of  the 
Giant's  Causeway.  The  columns  are  hexagonal  in  shape, 
Avitli  an  average  diameter  approaching  three  feet.  At 
phices  whole  areas  of  them  have  been  distorted  and 
twisted  hither  and  thither  in  the  cooling,  with  a  most 
wild  and  singular  effect. 

A  cascade  like  a  little  Niagara  tumbles  roaring  down 
among  them,  and  fui'nishes  the  strong  water-power 
for  the  works.  The  hacienda  belongs  to  the  Real  del 
Monte  Company,  and  it  is  chiefly  ores  of  that  company 
which  are  brought  to  this  strangely  atti-active  scene  to  be 
treated.  Troops  of  horses  were  going  round  in  the  usual 
way  in  a  great  walled  patio,  making  the  tortas.  Con- 
nected with  this  were  smelting-furnaces  and  kindred 
buildings  of  many  sorts.  Madame  Calderon  de  la  Barca, 
who  also  visited  Regla,  found  it  such  a  place  as  might 
have  been  conjured  up  by  magic,  by  some  giant  enchant- 
er, for  his  own  purposes.  Mediaeval- looking  towers, 
gateways,  terraces,  a  chapel,  and  prison  garnish  it.  Op- 
posite the  chapel  is  a  pretty  residence,  Moorish  in  aspect, 
surrounded  by  vines  and  flowers.  The  whole  is  said  to 
have  cost  some  two  millions  of  dollars. 

We  spent  a  night  here  with  the  superintendent,  Don 
Ramon  Torres,  a  youngish  man,  who  had  learned  his 
avocation  in  the  mines  at  Guanajuato.  He  seemed  but 
too  delighted,  in  his  comparative  isolation,  to  entertain 
company  and  honor  the  introduction  of  his  chief,  Seiior 


MIXES  AND  MINING,  AT  PACHUCA   AND  REG  LA.     241 

Llandero.  He  dwelt  in  his  talk  upon  the  lack  of  ambi- 
tion among  the  Indian  laborers.  He  said,  among  other 
tilings,  that  in  the  Tierra  Caliente  the  women  were  better 
workers  than  the  men. 


superintendent's   house    at   RECiLA. 


Our  next  stage  from  here  was  to  be  the  hacienda  of 
Tepenacasco,  near  Tulancingo,  where  Mr.  Brocklehurst 
and  myself  had  been  invited  to  visit,  in  order  to  witness 
the  manner  of  life  on  one  of  the  great  country  estates. 
Ilegla  is  rather  famous  for  thunder-storms,  and  on  the 
day  of  our  departure  we  had  one  of  the  traditional  sort. 
Within  a  few  minutes  after  its  commencement  the  cas- 
cade was  blood -red  with   soil  torn   out  by  the  swollen 

11 


242         OLD  MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

stream.  The  storm  abated  at  first,  but  we  encountered 
it  in  renewed  furj  on  wide  green  uplands  like  an  Illinois 
prairie,  known  as  the  Plains  of  Mata.  As  we  galloped 
in  the  midst  of  it,  the  rain  pouring  in  torrents  from  our 
rubber  blankets,  the  lightnings  {rayos)  darted  into  the 
ground,  now  on  this  side,  now  on  that,  in  a  way  which 
I  can  only  compare — perhaps  too  trivially — to  spearing 
for  olives  in  a  jar  with  a  fork.  The  rayos  are  dan- 
gerous in  this  region,  as  naturally  on  open  plains  every- 
where, and  crosses  mark  places  where  herdsmen  have 
been  stricken  down  among  their  flocks.  One  of  these 
victims  had  been  found  recently,  with  his  animals  gath- 
ered around  in  a  circle  at  close  quarters  staring  at  him 
curiously,  while  he  lay  stark  on  his  face. 

The  rain  had  its  lulls  and  relapses,  and  twice  in  succes- 
sion we  took  shelter  under  the  sheds  of  isolated  ranchitos 
which  we  fell  in  with.  We  were  joined  here  by  an  occa- 
sional ploughman,  wearing  the  long  cloak  of  coarse  woven 
grass,  which  diverts  the  water  from  the  wearer.  We  were 
joined,  too,  by  all  the  domestic  animals  of  the  neighbor- 
hood. The  wait  at  the  last  retreat  seemed  as  if  it  would 
never  end.  At  last  a  pig  ventured  forth,  and  we  said,  idly, 
that  if  he  should  return  we  would  accept  it  as  an  augury 
that  the  deluge  was  over  and  the  waters  had  ceased  upon 
the  face  of  the  earth.  Sure  enough,  he  came  back  pres- 
ently, munching  a  green  carrot-top ;  and,  receiving  this 
like  the  olive-branch  brought  to  Noah,  we  sallied  forth. 
Our  confidence  proved  well  justified.  A  lovely  prismatic 
bow  of  promise  was  presently  set  in  the  sky,  the  clouds 
rolled  away,  scattering  their  last  lingering  drops,  the  rills 
babbled  merrily,  and  the  face  of  the  country  sparkled 
with  an  enchanting  freshness.  We  paused  again  briefly 
at  a  hacienda  which  belonged  to  the  Governor  of  the 
state.     The  main  building  was  large,  plain,  and  yellow- 


MINES  AND  MINING,  AT  PACHUCA    AND  REG  LA.     243 


PLOUGHMAN    IN    GKASS    CLOAK. 


washed,  and  Lad  before  it  an  enclosed  threshing-floor, 
on  which  grain  is  tramped  out  by  the  feet  of  horses.  A 
young  American  girl  had  been  employed  as  governess 
here  up  to  a  recent  date. 


244         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  FROVINCES. 

It  was  now  toward  evening.  The  sunset  glowed  warm 
npon  the  little  hatnlet  of  Acatlan,  through  which  our  road 
was  seen  winding  below.  In  its  midst  lay  a  dismantled 
convent,  with  belfries  still  standing,  which  from  a  dis- 
tance resembled  an  English  ruined  abbey.  It  was  found 
on  being  reached,  however,  unlike  the  latter,  to  be  built 
of  bricks  and  adobe.  I  had  at  first  taken  this  for  our 
hacienda  itself,  but  the  hacienda  proved  equally  attractive 
in  a  different  way.  After  a  couple  of  miles  farther  on 
we  sent  back  our  horses  and  guide  with  a  warm  missive 
of  thanks  to  their  owner,  and  were  hospitably  installed  at 
Tepenacasco. 


,.JL. 


A    WEEK  AT  A  MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.        245 


XIX. 

A   WEEK  AT  A   MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE. 


With  a  taste  for  coiintiy  life,  so  novel  a  domain  to 
explore,  and  constantly  agreeable  weather,  I  found  a 
week's  stay  at  the  hacienda  one  of  the  most  agreeable  of 
experiences.  From  a  distance  the  extensive  habitation 
has  a  stately  air,  like  some  ducal  residence.  In  approach- 
ing it  you  pass  first  through  fields  of  maguey  and  blos- 
soming alfalfa,  then  by  a  long  stone  corral  for  cattle, 
extensive  barracks  and  huts  of  laborers,  and  a  pond 
bordered  with  weeping  willows.  It  is  built  of  rubble- 
masonry  and  plaster,  whitewashed,  and  consists  of  a  single 
liberal  story.  The  dwelling,  with  numerous  connected 
buildings,  makes  in  all  a  facade  of  about  six  hundred  feet. 
A  belfry,  with  two  tiers  of  bronze  bells  hung  in  arches, 
sets  off  tlie  centre.  The  large  windows  are  defended  by 
cage-like  iron  gratings.  A  door,  flanked  by  holy-water 
fonts,  at  the  left  of  that  forming  the  main  entrance, 
opens  into  a  family  cliapel.  In  a  gable  above  the  main 
entrance  is  inscribed  this  motto — which  lias  not,  however, 
prevented  the  hacienda  from  being  the  scene  of  more 
than  one  sack  by  revolutionary  forces : 

^^  En  aqueste  destierro  y  soledad  dlsfruto  del  tesoro  de 
la  jpaz  " — "  In  this  retirement  and  solitude  I  enjoy  the 
treasure  of  peace." 

Immediately  in  front  of  the  buildings  is  laid  out,  after 


240  (ihl)   MEXICO  AND   HER  LOIST  I'liOVlXCES. 


A    WEEK  AT  A    AfEXWAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.        247 

a  usual  custom,  a  substantially  paved  and  enclosed  area, 
seuiicircnlar  at  one  end,  used  as  a  threshing-floor.  Troops 
of  running  horses  are  driven  around  here  upon  the  grain, 
like  those  in  the  jjatio  process,  only  in  a  very  much  live- 
lier fashion.  The  long  facade  was  made  up  in  part  of 
massive  trojes,  or  granaries,  comprised  under  the  same 
roof  as  the  house.  Each  f)'oJe  has  a  special  name  of  its 
^wn  inscribed  upon  it.  There  were,  for  instance,  the 
"  Troje  de  la  Espigero''  ("  Corn  in  the  Ear"),  the  "  Troje 
de  la  Teja  "  ("  Tiled  Roof") ;  and  the  "  Troje  de  Limbo  " 
and  "  Troje  de  Nuestra  Sejiora  del  Pilar.''''  The  walls 
of  these  granaries  were  of  great  thickness,  in  order  to 
preserve  the  contents  cool  and  at  an  even  temperature. 
Heavily  buttressed,  and  with  their  long  lines  of  piers,  a 
yard  square,  extending  down  the  dim  interiors,  they  are 
more  like  basilicas  of  the  early  Christian  era  than  simple 
barns.  The  central  cluster  of  buildings  alone,  not  count- 
ing those  detached,  covers  perhaps  from  four  to  Ave 
acres.  Mountiuir  to  the  roof  and  lookiiioj  over  its  ex- 
pause,  broken  by  the  openings  of  numerous  courts,  you 
seem  to  be  contemplating,  as  it  were,  some  agricultural 
Louvre  or  Escorial.  Its  rear  wall  is  washed  by  a  prem^ 
or  artificial  pond  for  irrigation,  which  stretches  away  like 
a  lake.  Beyond  this  rises  a  citarming  grassy  hill,  called 
the  Cerro.  We  climbed  the  Cerro,  and  lounged  away 
more  than  one  afternoon  there  in  sketching,  and  contem- 
plating the  beautiful  level  valley  of  Tulancingo,  spread 
out  below. 

The  white  hacienda  with  red  roofs  lay  in  front,  re- 
flected clearly  in  its  pond.  Tulancingo  was  a  white  patch 
at  a  distance,  and  other  white  patches  nearer  by  were  the 
hamlets  of  Jaltepec,  Amatlan,  and  Zupitlan — the  latter  in 
ruins.  Straight,  lane-like  roads  led  from  one  to  another. 
The  mountains  on  the  horizon  afforded  glimpses  of  ba- 


248  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

saltic  cliffs  of  the  same  formation  as  those  at  Regla,  and 
of  the  white  smoke  of  charcoal-burners  rising  from  their 
forests.  Cattle  wandered  in  fine  herds  in  the  grassy  past- 
ure, each  tended  by  its  herdsman  and  dog.  We  saw  a 
troop  of  them  at  twilight  come  to  drink  at  the  pond,  and 
the  complication  of  all  their  moving  forms  was  curiously 
picked  out  in  silhouette  against  the  gleaming  brightness 
of  the  water. 

At  evening  there  returned  to  the  court-yard  of  the  ha- 
cienda, to  disband  after  their  day's  labor,  sometimes  as 
many  as  forty  ploughmen.  If  it  had  rained  they  wore 
their  barbaric-looking  grass  cloaks.  They  drove  yokes 
of  oxen  and  bulls  harnessed  to  the  primitive  Egyptian 
plough,  and  carried  long  goads  to  prod  their  animals. 
After  them  rode  in  now  and  then  an  armed  horseman, 
wrapped  in  his  serape,  who  overlooked  and  guarded  them 
at  work.  At  the  same  time  came  troops  and  droves  of 
the  other  animals  needing  to  be  housed :  black  swine  from 
the  grassy  slopes  of  the  Cerro ;  mules  released  from  har- 
ness ;  young  horses  and  mules  not  yet  put  to  work ; 
railch-cows,  and  young  steers  and  heifers,  each  wending 
its  way  sedately  to  its  own  department. 

Most  of  the  cattle,  I  observed,  were  hornless.  This  is 
brought  about  by  a  practice  of  paring  the  young  horns 
when  first  sprouting.  It  would  seem  that  this  might  be 
desirable  among  ourselves,  both  on  the  farm  and  espe- 
cially in  transporting  cattle  in  the  cars  ordinarily  in  use. 
Milking-time  came  only  once  a  day — in  the  morning — 
and  not,  as  with  us,  twice.  The  hind-legs  of  the  cows 
are  lassoed  together  when  being  milked.  The  calves  of 
tender  age  are  also  lassoed  to  the  side  of  the  mother, 
and  it  is  a  quaint  and  amusing  sight  to  see  their  impa- 
tient demonstrations  while  awaiting  the  conclusion  of  the 
process. 


A    WEEK  AT  A    MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.         249 


1^    mm' J 


11* 


250         OLD   MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

I  sat  down  one  day  with  "  Don  Rafael,"  the  administra- 
dor,  or  sahiried  manager,  of  the  estate,  to  make  a  rough  map 
of  its  general  distribution  and  extent.  The  property  proved 
to  be  some  eighteen  miles  in  length  by  twelve  in  its  great- 
est width,  and  of  very  irregular  pattern  It  had  no  less 
than  eleven  large  presas,  formed  by  dams  at  convenient 
points  for  irrigation.  The  principal  dam  was  a  mile  in 
length,  and  by  means  of  it  had  been  formed  a  lake  of  two 
miles  in  its  principal  dimension.  On  the  borders  of  this 
stands  the  feudal-looking  ruined  hamlet,  with  church  and 
hacienda,  of  Zupitlan,  before  mentioned.  The  bulk  of 
the  estate  was  in  grass,  but  irregular  patches  of  ground 
had  been  taken  out  here  and  there  for  various  crops,  and 
to  each  was  given  its  special  name.  Thus  the  field  of 
San  Pablo  was  devoted  to  maize  and  alfalfa  ;  Las  Animas, 
San  Antonio  the  Greater,  and  San  Antonio  the  Less  were 
given  up  to  maize ;  Del  Monte  and  San  Ignacio  el  Grande 
to  barley. 

The  7nagueyale8,  or  maguey  fields,  were  of  considerable 
extent.  The  making  of  the  pulque  from  their  product 
was  confided  to  a  special  functionary  called  the  tlachi- 
quero.  The  heart  of  the  maguey  is  cut  out  at  a  certain 
stage  of  its  growth  and  a  bowl  thus  formed,  into  which  a 
quantity  of  sweet  sap  continues  to  run  regularly  for  sev- 
eral months.  By  the  end  of  that  time  the  plant  is  dead, 
and  is  uprooted  and  replaced  by  another.  The  sap  is  at 
first  called  agua  miel,  or  honey-water,  which  it  resembles. 
The  tlachiquero  makes  a  daily  pilgrimage  to  the  fields, 
and  draws  off  the  agua  miel  by  means  of  a  bulky  siphon 
formed  of  a  gourd.  Sometimes  he  bears  simply  a  bag, 
ujade  of  undressed  sheepskin,  like  the  wine-skins  of  Old 
Spain,  on  his  back  ;  again,  lie  is  accompanied  by  a  donkey 
loaded  with  a  number  of  these  skins.  lie  transfers  the 
sap  to  these  bags,  and  returns  with  it  to  a  department  of 


THE    TLACHIQCERO. 


A    WEEK  AT  A   MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.        253 

his  own,  called  the  Tinecal.  There  he  pours  it  into  shal- 
low vats  of  undressed  skin,  where  it  is  allowed  to  ferment. 
Without  describing  the  process  farther  in  detail,  in  a  fort- 
night it  is  ready  for  sale  or  for  home  consumption. 

The  pasture  fields  have  their  distinctive  titles  also. 
There  were,  for  instance,  San  Gaetano,  San  Ysidro,  and 
San  Dionysio;  and,  again,  the  corrals  of  San  Ricardo, 
San  Gaetano,  and  Las  Palmas,  where  cattle  were  enclosed 
at  various  times.  Dairy-farming  was  the  principal  indus- 
try of  the  estate.  Its  neat  cattle  numbered  seventeen 
hundred  head.  The  pay-roll  showed  a  total  for  the  week 
of  eight  hundred  and  fifty  men  and  boys. 

The  living  apartments  of  the  dwelling  were  set  along 
two  sides  of  an  arcaded  court-yard,  which  had  a  disman- 
tled fountain  in  the  centre.  Offices  and  store-rooms  occu- 
pied the  other  two  sides.  A  department  for  the  butter 
and  cheese  making  had  a  special' court  to  itself  in  the 
rear.  One  of  the  store-rooms  contained  an  ample  supply 
of  agricultural  implements.  Those  of  the  slighter  sort,  I 
learned,  such  as  ploughs,  spades,  picks,  hammers,  and  the 
coa,  a  peculiar  cutting-hoe,  are  made  in  the  country, 
at  Apulco,  not  far  distant,  where  are  also  iron  -  works. 
An  iron  plough  made  at  Apulco  costs  $7,  while  the  im- 
ported American  plough  costs  $10.  There  are  wooden 
pitch-forks  and  spades  among  the  implements.  The 
wooden,  or  Egyptian,  plough  is  much  more  in  use  than 
that  of  iron.  It  consists  simply  of  a  wooden  beam  shod 
with  an  iron  point,  and  has  an  adjustable  cross-piece 
for  service  in  case  the  furrow  needs  to  be  made  wider. 
The  purpose  to  which  it  is  most  applied  is  that  of  turn- 
ing shallow  furrows  between  rows  of  corn,  and  for  this  it 
appears  well  enough  adapted.  At  Pensacola,  in  the  state 
of  Puebla,  such  larger  pieces  of  agricultural  machinery  as 
reapers,  mowers,  and  separators  are  manufactured. 


25i         OLD  MEXICO   AND  HER  LOST  PROVJXCES. 


II. 

We  happened,  among  other  aceotnraodations,  in  our  ex- 
ploration of  the  corridors,  upon  a  prison,  described  as  for 
use  in  locking  up  the  refractory  peons  when  thej  will  not 
work. 

"  Can  you  do  that  ?  Have  you,  then,  such  an  absolute 
power  over  them?"  I  asked  our  host,  in  some  surprise. 

"  Whj',  no,"  he  replied,  in  effect,  deprecatinglj,  "  I  sup- 
pose not ;  but,  you  see,  now  and  then  it  is  the  only  way  to 
manage  them,  and  we  have  to.  It  is  not  civilizated,  that 
people,"  he  continued,  in  an  English  which  left  something 
to  be  desired,  "and  we  do  the  best  what  we  can." 

This  seems  something  very  like  a  feudal  control  on 
the  part  of  the  hacendado,  but  his  numerous  dependents 
do  not  seem  to  complain  of  it.  Cases  of  protest  before 
the  magistrates  are  rarely  known,  and  should  they  be 
made  it  is  not  likely,  since  the  magistrates  are  friends  of 
their  masters,  and  of  the  same  social  station,  that  they 
would  meet  wnth  any  great  attention. 

We  found  this  laboring  population  living  in  squalid 
stone  huts,  often  six  and  eight  persons  in  a  room.  The 
floors  were  simply  the  dirt  of  the  ground,  and  there  was 
sometimes  not  even  so  much  as  the  usual  straw  mat  to 
sleep  or  sit  upon.  We  were  told  here  again  that  the  peons 
are  avaricious.  They  are  believers  in  a  general  way,  but 
not  greatly  given  to  religion.  Few  attend  the  services  at 
the  chapel,  even  on  Sunday.  They  summon  the  priest 
when  about  to  die,  but  not  otherwise.  But  few  of  the 
children  go  to  school.  As  a  whole,  they  seemed  about  as 
Avretched  as  the  poor  Irish,  except  for  the  advantage  over 
the  latter  in  climate.  In  every  interior  is  seen  a  woman 
on  her  knees,  rolling  or  spatting  the  interminable  tortillas. 


A    WEEK  AT  A    MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.         255 

The  laborers  on  the  pay-roll  were  of  two  classes :  those 
employed  by  the  week,  and  those  employed  by  the  year. 
Tlie  former  "found  themselves;"  the  latter  were  "found" 
by  the  estate,  and  paid  a  certain  sum  at  the  end  of  the 
year.  Wages  ran  from  six  cents  a  day  for  the  boys  to 
thirty-seven  for  the  best  class  of  adults. 


III. 

The  administrador  was  assisted,  in  the  management  of 
the  hacienda,  by  the  mayor-domo  and  the  sobre-saliente, 
who  acted  as  his  first  and  second  lieutenants;  a  caporal^ 
who  had  general  charge  of  the  stock  ;  and  2^  iMstero^  who 
had  charge  of  the  pastures.  The  jpastero  it  was  who  in- 
dicated the  condition  of  the  various  areas  of  pasturage, 
that  tlie  animals  might  be  moved  to  one  after  another  of 
them  in  turn.  These  minor  officers  were  of  the  native 
Indian  race.  They  were  dark,  swarthy  men,  very  bandit- 
looking  when  armed  and  mounted  on  horseback,  but  in 
reality,  when  you  came  to  know  them,  as  mild  and  ami- 
ble  persons  as  need  be  wished  for. 

One,  "  Don  Daniel,"  supervised  tlie  butter  and  cheese 
making  interest.  A  book-keeper,  "  Don  Angel,"  kept  an 
account  of  all  the  property  of  the  estate — receipts,  and 
disbursements,  and  an  inventory  of  stock — upon  a  system 
which  seemed  a  model  of  commercial  accuracy.  Every 
week  a  report  was  forwarded  to  the  owners,  at  Mexico, 
upon  a  printed  blank  filled  out  in  the  most  exhaustive 
detail,  so  that  they  could  see  at  a  glance  how  they  stood. 

The  administrador,  Don  Rafael,  was  a  steady-going 
man  of  middle  age,  a  native  of  San  Luis  Potosi.  lie 
had  land  and  casitas,  little  houses,  of  his  own,  which  he 
rented.  He  had  also  a  house  in  the  city  of  Tulancingo, 
near  by,  occupied  by  his  family,  whom  he  visited  once  a 


256         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

week.  His  salary  reached  about  $1000  a  year,  and  he 
could  be  called  a  person  of  substance.  A  conspicuous 
scar  on  his  forehead  led  it  to  be  supposed  that  he  might 
have  seen  service  in  the  field ;  but  he  spoke  with  con- 
tempt of  the  wars  of  his  country  when  questioned  about 
it,  and  said  that  he  had  got  his  scar  in  breaking  a  horse. 

"A  sensible  man  can  always  find  better  occupation  than 
fighting,"  he  said.  "  1  have  busied  myself  with  regular 
industry.  The  North  Americans,  now,  understand  that. 
They  have  good  ideas.  There  everybody  works  and  gets 
a  little  ahead  in  the  world.  Without  money  in  his  pock- 
et what  is  a  man  good  for?  He  might  as  well  take  him- 
self over  to  the  cemetery  yonder  at  once  and  have  done 
with  it." 

Don  Angel  was  young,  mild,  tacitnrn,  painstaking,  and 
a  native  of  Old  Spain.  His  handwriting  was  small  and 
neat,  and  he  had  a  great  head  for  details.  His  salary 
was  the  sum  of  $400  a  year.  The  revenues  of  the  estate 
which  it  was  his  province  to  cast  up  amounted,  I  was 
told,  to  $20,000  a  year. 

Don  Daniel,  the  butter  and  cheese  maker,  was  young 
also,  bnt  large,  handsome,  rosy,  and  had  excellent  teeth, 
with  coal-black  hair  and  beard.  He  was  a  model  of  ro- 
bust health  and  lively  spirits.  He  too  had  a  wife  at  Tn- 
lancingo,  whom  he  visited  every  Sunday,  returning  before 
daylight  on  Monday  morning,  to  be  in  time  for  the  milk- 
ing. He  was  given  to  strumming  on  a  guitar  in  the  even- 
ing, and  assembled  around  him  in  his  room  such  conviv- 
ial spirits  as  the  hacienda  afforded.     Nonsensical  refrains 

like 

"Amarillo  si,  amarillo  no, 
Amarillo  y  verde,  me  ho  pinto," 

were  heard  proceeding  from  there  long  after  more  staid 
and  decorous  persons  were  in  bed. 


A    WEEK  AT  A   MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.         257 

Another  member  of  the  household  was,  let  us  say, 
"Manuel,"  a  boy  of  eighteen,  looking  younger,  who  had 
formerly  been  a  cadet  at  the  national  military  school.  He 
was  here  learning  the  business  of  a  hacienda,  or,  as  some 
said,  he  was  a  young  scapegrace  whom  it  was  designed 
to  keep  out  of  mischief.  At  any  rate,  he  was  an  aide-de- 
camp to  Don  Rafael,  and  took  his  orders  about  on  horse- 
back. Pie  dressed,  like  Don  Rafael,  in  a  substantial  suit 
of  buff  leather.  He  was  a  very  garrulous  and  communi- 
cative person,  and,  as  our  attendant  and  guide — in  which 
capacity  he  offered  himself,  I  think,  somewhat  as  an  ex- 
cuse for  escaping  more  onerous  labors — he  furnished  us 
much  useful  information.  His  elders  took  a  tone  of  rail- 
lery with  him,  rejjresenting  him  as  a  very  callow  youth, 
whose  views  were  of  no  consequence,  and  who  should 
be  seen  but  not  heard  from.  They  ridiculed  his  French, 
which  he  had  learned  at  the  military  school,  even  affect- 
ing not  to  believe  that  it  was  French  at  all.  Our  visit 
was  the  occasion  for  a  strenuous  effort  on  his  part  to  set 
himself  right  on  this  point. 

^' N''ai-je  pad  hien  ditf''  he  cried  to  ns,  across  the  gen- 
erous dining- table  where  we  sat  together,  stretching  at 
the  same  time  a  bony,  school-boy  arm  for  aid  in  putting 
the  scoffers  down. 

One  day  we  mounted  to  go  to  a  beautiful  clear  spring 
of  water,  which  was  admired  even  as  early  as  by  Hum- 
boldt in  his  travels.  On  others  we  visited  the  adjacent 
hamlets,  or  Tulancingo,  from  which,  later,  we  were  to 
take  the  diligence  homeward.  Again,  we  made  our  ob- 
jective points  the  various  crops,  a  dam  undergoing  re- 
pairs, or  the  remoter  pastures  and  corrals. 

The  herdsman  and  a  boy-assistant  at  these  corrals  slept 
at  night  in  their  blankets  under  a  mere  pile  of  stones. 
The  upper  irrigating  dams  are  discharged  of  their  wa- 


258  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

ters,  when  it  is  desired,  bj  the  primitive  device  of  lift- 
ing up  one  cross-beam  after  anotlier  from  a  narrow  gate 
in  the  centre.  In  some  of  the  maize-fields  are  look-out 
boxes,  aloft  on  high  poles,  as  a  device  against  crows  and 
other  marauders.  The  general  surface  over  which  we  rode 
was  the  grassy  plain,  affording  a  delightful  footing  for 
the  horses.  It  was  of  a  fresh,  soft  green,  and  enamelled 
besides  with  flowers,  like  violets,  the  blue  maravilla,  and 
many  varieties  of  a  yellow  flower  resembling  the  dande- 
lion, but  prettier. 

IV. 

The  room  first  entered  from  the  main  corridor  in  the 
house  itself  was  devoted  to  the  uses  of  a  despacho,  or  of- 
fice. Here  was  the  department  of  Don  Angel,  and  the 
master  himself  sometimes  took  his  place  behind  the  long, 
baize-covered  table,  strewn  with  matters  of  business  de- 
tail, to  hold  audience  with  the  peons  of  the  estate,  who 
came,  with  wide-brimmed  hats  humbly  doffed,  to  make 
known  various  wants  and  complaints.  In  the  corners 
stood  rifles,  spades,  and  the  long  branding- iron,  which 
is  heated  in  the  month  of  August  to  brand  the  young 
cattle  with  the  device  of  their  owner. 

A  fat  dark  peon  enters,  and  proffers  a  request  for  an 
allowance  to  be  made  him  for  a  baptism  in  his  family. 

"A  baptism 'f'  says  the  master,  briskly.  "Well,  now, 
come  on  !  Speak  up;  don't  stand  mumbling  there  !  Let 
us  see  what  your  ideas  are.'' 

The  man  suggests,  deferentially,  to  begin  with,  the  sum 
of  $3  for  a  guajolote^  or  turkey,  as  a  jpiece  de  resistance 
for  his  feast. 

"  You  are  always  wanting  a  gnajolote,  you  people.  You 
don't  need  anything  of  the  kind.  However,  let  us  say 
$1.50 — twelve  reals — for  the  guajolote.     What  next?" 


A    WEEK  AT  A    MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.         259 

"  The  jpulque — about  forty  cuartillas  of  pulque.'''' 

"  Twenty  cuartillas  of  pulque,^''  says  the  master,  ruth- 
lessly cutting  down  the  estimate  by  half.  "Well,  what 
next?     Speak  up !" 

The  jDeasant,  one  of  the  laborers  by  the  year,  perse- 
veres, in  his  humble,  soft  voice,  regularly  making  his 
estimate  for  each  article  twice  the  real  figure,  and  having 
it  as  regularlj'  cut  down.  He  caps  the  whole  by  demand- 
ing four  reals  for  a  sombrero,  well  knowing — and  know- 
ing perfectly  well  that  his  master  knows  also — that  the 
kind  of  sombrero  he  would  be  likely  to  want  costs  but 
one  real. 

We  had  proposed  to  witness  the  festivities  of  this  christ- 
ening, but  unfortunately  delayed  too  long  at  table  on  the 
evening  of  its  occurrence,  and  lost  it.  But  the  sky  was 
gloriously  full  of  stars  as  we  went  out  among  the  huts 
and  barracks.  A  woman  came  out  of  one  of  the  tene- 
ments and  made  a  complaint  of  a  neighbor  with  Avhom 
she  had  had  a  row,  but  got  no  great  sympathy,  and 
hardly  seemed  to  expect  any.  They  are  admirably  po- 
lite, these  poor  rustics — nobody  can  deny  them  that.  As 
we  sat  by  the  road  one  day  at  Amatlan,  sketching,  some 
of  the  women  called  to  us  as  they  went  by : 

^^  Buenas  dlas,  senores !  Como  han  pasado,  ustedes, 
la  7ioche  f  Adios,  senores .'" — "  Good-day,  sirs !  How  did 
you  pass  the  night  ?     Good-bye,  sirs  !" 

We  had  not  in  any  way  first  addressed  them,  and  they 
did  not  stop,  but  went  swiftly  onward,  scarcely  turning 
their  heads  to  look.  These  and  many  more  of  the  sort 
are  but  their  ordinary  salutations. 

The  immediate  family  at  the  hacienda  consisted  of  one 
of  the  several  heirs,  "Don  Eduardo,"  his  wife,  inother, 
and  two  small  children,  and  their  Indian  nurses.  They 
were  in  the  habit  of  spending  but  a  small  portion  of  the 


260         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

year  here,  and,  when  they  came,  lived  in  quite  informal 
style.  Servants  and  employes,  equally  with  her  inti- 
mates, called  the  young  mistress  "  Cholita,"  a  diminutive 
of  her  name  Soledad.  There  was  little  or  no  receiving  or 
paying  of  visits,  owing  to  the  great  distances  to  be  trav- 
ersed and  the  scarcity  of  neighbors. 


V. 

Social  life  in  the  country  is  hardly  known.  We  had 
piano  music  and  singing  in  the  evening  in  a  stately,  dim- 
ly-lighted salon  of  the  style  of  the  First  Empire.  One 
day  a  large  farm  vehicle,  gayly  decorated  with  boughs, 
was  brought  around,  all  hands  got  into  it,  and  we  pro- 
ceeded to  the  lake  at  Zupitlan  for  a  picnic.  The  provis- 
ions were  carried  on  a  litter  by  a  couple  of  men.  and  a 
guard  on  horseback,  with  his  rifle,  rode  along-side  for  our 
protection.  Such  a  precaution  was  not  absolutely  needed, 
perhaps,  but  there  had  been  a  time — before  the  Governor 
of  Hidalgo  had  taken  his  summary  measures — when  the 
brigands  would  have  swooped  down  from  the  adjacent 
hills  and  seized  upon  such  a  procession  with  little  cere- 
mony. After  dining  al  fresco  we  amused  ourselves  with 
shooting  some  of  the  ducks  and  cranes  which  abound  on 
the  lake. 

We  had  chocolate  and  buns  on  rising  in  the  morning, 
and  two  over -liberal  repasts,  resembling  each  other  in 
character,  at  noon  and  nine  in  the  evening.  The  dogs 
swarmed  in  and  out  over  the  house,  which  presented  the 
aspect  of  a  generous  farm  rather  than  a  villa. 

It  was  designed  in  its  day  for  much  greater  state.  The 
furniture,  though  battered  and  ruined  now,  was  of  the 
charming  artistic  pattern  of  the  First  Empire,  and  all 
the  rooms  were  large  and  of  fine  proportions.     In  one  of 


A   WEEK  AT  A  MEXICAN  COUNTRY-HOUSE.        261 


NURSE    AND    CHILDREN    AT    THE    HACIENDA. 


the  two  principal  bedrooms  the  bed  is  raised  upon  a  dais, 
ascended  by  steps.  In  the  other  the  corners  are  cut  off 
by  columns,  so  as  to  give  it  an  octagon  shape.  In  three 
of  these  corners  the  beds  are  regularly  built  in  between 
the  columns ;  tlie  fourth  is  taken  for  a  door.  It  so  hap- 
pened that  I  had  not  read  Madame  de  la  Barca  before 
leaving  home.     Perhaps  I  had  but  a  rather  disparaging 


262         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

idea  of  a  work  descriptive  of  Mexico  coming  down  no 
later  than  1839.  On  taking  it  up  after  my  return  I  had 
an  opportunity  to  find  how  little  the  country  had  changed. 
She  too  visited  this  hacienda  of  Tepenacasco.  She  noted, 
among  other  items,  a  quaint  wall-paper,  of  a  Swiss  pat- 
tern, on  the  octagon  room.  That  very  paper  is  there  to 
this  day. 

The  proprietor  was  of  quite  a  different  sort  in  those 
times.  He  used  to  give  bull-fights  in  the  court  before 
his  portal,  which  is  now  a  thresh ing-fioor,  and  is  said  to 
have  entertained  half  the  population  of  Tulancingo  at 
his  table.  He  finally  ruined  himself  by  his  extravagance. 
It  is  said,  among  other  things,  that  if  he  took  a  sudden 
notion  to  go  to  Mexico,  a  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
away,  he  rode  his  horses  so  hard  that  they  sometimes 
dropped  dead  under  him. 


ON  HORSEBACK  AND  MULEBACK  TO  ACAFULCO.     2G3 


XX. 

ON  HORSEBACK  AND  MULEBACK  TO  ACAFULCO. 


The  time  came  at  length — all  too  soon — for  my  final 
Mexican  journey — to  the  Pacific  coast  at  Acapulco,  where 
I  was  to  take  the  steamer  for  San  Francisco. 

I  was  advised  not  to  go  to  Acapulco.  There  are  always 
persons  ready  to  advise  you  not  to  do  perfectly  feasihle 
things.  It  was  now  August,  and  the  rainy  season  had 
begun  in  town  itself.  It  began  one  afternoon  with  a 
.ush.  I  had  been  reading  at  the  National  Library,  and, 
:^oming  out  at  four  o'clock,  found  the  streets  a  couple  of 
feet  deep  in  water.  The  cabs,  now  at  a  premium,  and 
some  few  men  on  horseback,  who  could  give  a  friend  a 
lift,  served  as  impromptu  gondolas  upon  these  impromptu 
canals.  There  were  also  cargadores,  who,  for  a  medio, 
carried  you  on  their  backs  from  corner  to  corner.  I  was 
told  that  ladies  in  the  balconies,  watching  the  animated 
sight,  now  and  then  slyly  held  up  a  real,  in  consideration 
of  which  the  cargador  dropped  some  gallant  in  the  water, 
presenting  a  ridiculous  sight.  Such  inundations  last  sev- 
eral hours  before  the  sluggish  sewers  can  carry  off  the 
surplus  water,  and  they  leave  the  ground-floor  habitations 
of  the  poor  in  but  a  cheerless  condition,  as  may  be  im- 
agined. 

If  this  were  to  be  added  to  the  other  embarrassments 
of  life  every  afternoon,  it  was  not  interesting  to  think  of 


264         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

remaining  longer  at  tlie  capital.  And  jet,  with  Macbeth, 
there  seemed  "  nor  flying  hence,  nor  tarrying  here."  The 
journey  to  Acapulco  was  represented  as  very  difficult  and 
dangerous.  The  route  was  a  mere  trail  or  foot-path,  a 
huen  cainino  de  pdjaros — a  good  road  for  birds.  No 
wheeled  vehicle  ever  had  passed  or  ever  could  pass  over 
it.  All  this  was,  indeed,  the  case.  Three  large  rivers 
were  to  be  crossed,  and  these  unbridged. 

"  Suppose,"  said  the  advisers,  putting  the  case  in  that 
bold  and  alarming  way  in  which  advisers  delight,  "  that 
these  should  be  swollen  by  the  floods,  as  is  naturally  to 
be  expected  now  in  the  rainy  season.  You  would  then 
be  delayed  so  long  on  their  banks  as  to  miss  your  steam- 
er, which  touches  at  Acapulco  only  once  a  fortnight. 
Again,  the  road  lies,  for  days  at  a  time,  in  ravines  and 
the  beds  of  streams ;  but  when  the  waters  occupy,  their 
channels  what  room  is  there  for  travellers  ?" 

If  to  this  were  added  the  natural  reflections  of  the  nov- 
ice on  the  score  of  danger  to  property  and  person  in  en- 
tering upon  so  wild  a  section,  the  prospect  was  not  at  all 
a  pleasing  one.  Nevertheless  it  would  be  almost  too  much 
to  expect  that  a  person  bound  for  California  should  come 
back  to  the  United  States  again  in  order  to  go  there,  and 
I  had  a  firm  conviction  that  the  Acapulco  trip  could  be 
made. 

II. 

I  had  negotiated  a  little  already  with  an  arriero^  or 
muleteer,  named  Vincente  Lopez,  in  a  street  called  Parque 
del  Conde.  He  would  furnish  a  horse  to  ride,  and  a 
mule  to  transport  my  baggage,  each  for  $20 — all  other 
expenses  to  be  defrayed  personally  along  the  way — which 
makes  the  three  hundred  miles  come  a  good  deal  higher 
than  so  much  railway  travel.     I  had   thus  dallied  with 


ON  HORSEBACK  AND  3IULEBACK  TO  ACAPULCO.     2G5 

the  idea,  and  my  decision  was  precipitated  by  the  sud- 
den coming  down  of  the  rain.  I  hurried  to  Parque  del 
Conde  Street,  and  closed  with  Vincente  Lopez.  I  was 
glad  to  learn  from  him  that  he  had  also  another  pa- 
tron who  was  going,  in  the  person  of  a  colonel  of  the 
army.  The  journey,  under  the  most  favorable  auspices, 
consumes  ten  days  on  horseback,  besides  tlie  day  occupied 
in  going  down  by  stage-coach  to  the  provincial  city  of  Cu- 
ernavaca,  where  the  bridle-path  begins.  Considering  all 
the  circumstances  as  stated,  there  were  many  companions 
one  would  mucli  less  prefer  to  have  than  so  presumably 
bold  and  well-informed  a  person  as  a  Mexican  regular 
officer. 

He  proved  to  be  a  veritable  military  man,  a,colonel 
who  had  seen  twenty  years'  service  in  different  wars  of 
his  country,  and  bore  bullet-holes  in  his  body  as  the  re- 
sult of  them.  He  had  begun  in  the  War  of  the  Reform, 
which  overthrew  the  Church  and  aristocratic  party ;  he 
had  fought  against  the  French  and  Maximilian  in  the 
second  War  of  Independence;  and,  lastly,  for  the  govern- 
ment of  Lerdo  against  Porfirio  Diaz.  To  the  party  of 
the  latter  he  was,  however,  now  reconciled,  and  he  was  go- 
ing to  take  a  command  on  the  disturbed  northern  frontier. 
If  more  were  needed,  he  had  lately  fought  a  duel,  as  he 
told  me,  in  which  the  weapons  were  sabres,  and  had  so 
slashed  his  opponent,  a  brother  officer,  that  the  latter  was 
laid  up  in  a  grievous  state  at  the  hospital.  A  vacant  bar- 
racks had  been  set  apart,  by  the  War  Department,  for  this 
proceeding.  Army  duelling,  as  on  the  Continent,  is  con- 
nived at.  The  case  seems  to  be  that,  if  you  fight,  you  are 
afterward  reprimanded;  but  if  you  do  not, you  are  likely 
to  be  cashiered  as  pusillanimous. 

Not  that  the  colonel  was  in  all  respects  the  most  agree- 
able of  travelling  com})anions.     He  was  much  wrapped 

12 


266         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

up  in  his  own  affairs  at  first,  and  later  displayed  some 
traits  of  a  certain  cliildish  selfishness. 

Vincente  Lopez  collected  our  baggage  at  the  appointed 
time.  He  was  a  plausible  person,  and  when  he  desired 
the  full  amount  of  his  bill  in  advance  I  had  well-nigli 
yielded  to  him.  I  submitted,  however,  as  more  equitable, 
that  one-half  should  be  paid  down  and  the  remainder  on 
the  completion  of  the  journey  according  to  contract. 

"  That  would  be  equitable,  indeed,  for  ordinary  arrie- 
ros,"  said  Vincente  Lopez,  "  but  I  am  one  of  especial 
probity.  It  is  my  habit  to  watch  over  the  persons  who 
confide  themselves  to  my  care  with  a  tender  solicitude, 
and  in  the  present  instance  I  have  intended  to  multiply 
even  my  usual  pains.  I  am  one  of  those  who  have  never 
known  what  it  is  to  encounter  on  the  way  the  slightest 
delay  or  annoyance." 

He  seemed  wounded  in  his  finest  sensibilities  by  an  ap- 
pearance of  mistrust,  which  was  to  him  hitherto  unknown. 
There  were  considerations  in  his  favor.  He  said  that  the 
colonel,  at  another  hotel,  had  paid  the  full  sum  in  ad- 
vance, and  this  proved  true.  Whatever  money  was  to  be 
taken,  besides,  must  be  in  the  heavy  silver  coinage  of  the 
country,  $16  to  the  pound,  and  to  be  rid  of  the  weight 
and  jingling  of  even  a  part  of  it  was  desirable.  Still, 
on  the  whole,  the  contract  was  drawn  in  my  way,  by 
the  advice  of  the  dark  secretary  of  the  Iturbide  Hotel. 
Though  it  seemed  almost  cruel  at  the  time  to  act  in 
this  formal  manner  with  so  good  a  man,  the  precaution 
proved  in  the  sequel  to  be  very  useful. 


IIL 

My  colonel  was  accompanied  down  to  Cuemavaca  in 
the  dillgencia — in  which  we  were   all  extremely  jolted, 


ON  HORSEBACK  ANU  MULEBACK  TO  ACAVULCO.     2G7 


2G8         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

dnsty,  and  uiicomfoi'table  together  —  by  two  generals. 
They  had  a})parently  come  to  give  him  parting  directions 
about  his  mission.  One  of  them  was  a  thick-set,  black- 
bearded  man,  with  a  husky  voice,  and  a  conspicuous  scar 
upon  his  face.  I  must  not  branch  off  too  much  into  side 
issues,  but  the  history  of  the  scar  was  that,  wliile  com- 
manding in  Yucatan,  he  had  ordered  to  be  shot,  on  some 
of  the  oi'dinary  revolutionary  pretexts,  a  member  of  the 
powerful  family  of  Gutierrez  Estrada,  a  family  with  com- 
mercial houses  in  Paris,  Mexico,  and  Merida,  and  noted, 
among  other  things,  for  the  beauty  and  intelligence  of  its 
women.  A  brother  of  the  victim  came  over  from  Paris 
as  an  avenger,  sought  out  the  general  in  question,  met 
him  in  a  duel,  and  left  this  mark,  which,  at  the  time  of 
its  infliction,  brouglit  the  recipient  to  death's  door. 

The  city  of  Mexico  is  some  7500  feet  above  the  sea, 
and,  having  come  up,  we  now  followed  a  great  downward 
slope.  It  abounds  in  bold  points  of  view,  from  which  the 
prospects  spread  vision-like  at  vast  distances  below.  Cu- 
ernavaca  presents  one  of  the  most  thrilling  of  these. 
What  is  yonder  singular  detail  in  the  valley  ?  A  haci- 
enda set  in  the  open  side  of  an  extinct  volcanic  crater, 
of  which  the  whole  interior  has  been  brought  under  smil- 
ing cultivation.  And  yonder  yellowish  spot?  The  sugar- 
cane fields  of  the  Duke  of  Monteleone.  He  is  an  Italian 
nobleman  of  Naples,  who  inherits,  by  right  of  descent,  a 
part  of  the  estates  reserved  here  for  himself  by  Cortez. 
The  Conqueror  was  made  "Marquis  of  the  Valley,"  with 
his  port  at  Tehuantcpec,  and  an  estate  comprising  twenty 
large  towns  and  villages,  and  23,000  vassals. 

Xowhere  is  there  a  quainter  group  of  old  rococo 
churches  than  that  in  this  solid  little  city.  They  have 
flying  buttresses,  of  two  arches  in  width,  descending 
quite  to  the  ground,  domes,  and  other  inlay  in  colored 


ON  HORSEBACK  AND  MULEBACK  TO  ACAPULCO.     209 

porcelain  tiles;  and  they  are  all  clustered  together,  with 
tombs  and  a  battleniented  wall  about  them.  A  student 
of  architecture  coming  this  way  with  his  sketch-book 
in  his  hand  could  find  material  here  for  a  month.  I  am 
not  sure  that  the  trip  could  not  be  made  enjoyably,  as  it 
certainly  could  economically,  on  foot,  with  an  attendant 
to  carry  a  knapsack,  as  we  met  some  German  naturalists 
and  prospectors  making  it  farther  on.  Close  by  is  a  gar- 
den on  a  great  scale  —  the  Jardin  Borda  —  to  which  one 
obtains  admittance  for  a  fee.  It  has  a  stone  fish-pond  as 
large  as  a  lake,  terraces,  urns,  and  statues  worthy  of  the 
most  luxurious  prince  in  Europe.  I  was  told  that  it 
could  be  bought  for  $5000.  I  asked  the  custodian  about 
the  owner — what  he  had  been  remarkable  for. 

"lie  had  altos  pesos,''''  replied  the  man,  which  is  Span- 
ish for  "a  pile  of  money."  Bushels  of  delicious  man- 
goes were  rotting  untouched  along  the  walks.  From 
the  outer  terrace  you  look  down  into  the  barranca  which 
Alvarado  crossed  by  a  fallen  tree  when  sent  by  his  inde- 
fatigable general  against  the  disaffected  Gonzalo  Pizarro. 
Here  are  guava,  mango,  pine-apple,  banana,  and  plenty  of 
other  fruits,  but  not  yet  the  cocoa-nut,  which  only  flour- 
ishes lower  down. 

Behold  us  ready  to  set  forth  on  the  trail !  Vincente 
Lopez  is  not  present,  strange  to  say,  to  cast  about  ns  the 
fostering  care  he  has  promised.  On  the  contrary,  he  has 
quietly  sold  out  liis  contract  and  gone  back  to  the  Parque 
del  Conde  with  his  profits.  We  arc  in  the  hands  of  a 
new  muleteer,  "  Don  Marcos,"  who  has  never  made  the 
journey  to  Acapulco  before,  and  a  fourteen-3'ear-old  boy, 
"Vincente,"  who  is  depended  upon  to  find  the  way. 
Every  cavalcade  in  Mexico  is  bizarre,  and  ours,  ordinary 
enough  there,  would  attract  attention  elsewhere.  First, 
upon  the  mule  "Venado"  rides  the  coloqel,  a  tall,  spare 


270         OLD  MEXICO  AND  IlER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

man,  in  military  boots,  wide  liat  with  silver  braid,  and  a 
linen  blouse,  through  which  project  the  handles  of  hnge 
revolvers.  lie  is  aiming,  not  at  display,  but  comfort.  Of 
myself  I  shall  say  nothing.  It  is  a  privilege  of  the  narra- 
tor to  let  it  be  supposed  that  he  is  always  gallant  and  im- 
posing in  appearance,  and  exactly  adapted  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case.  I  rode  the  rather  large  bay  horse 
"  Pajaro."  Don  Marcos,  a  deprecating,  tricky  person, 
■with  a  purpose,  soon  evident,  of  making  np  from  us  his 
bad  bargain,  wore  a  crimson  poncho  and  cotton  drawers, 
and  bestrode  the  small  white  horse  "Palomito"  ("Little 
Dove").  Thus  appreciatively  had  he  thought  fit  to  name 
all  the  animals,  thougli  he  had  but  on  the  instant  come 
into  possession  of  them.  The  trunks,  first  securely  sewn 
up  in  cocoa-mats,  were  tied,  the  colonel's  upon  the  back 
of  the  mule  "  Nina,"  and  mine  upon  "Aceituna."  Vin- 
cente,  the  boy,  ran  barefoot  most  of  the  way  to  Acapulco 
behind  the  mules,  crying,  ^'- Eh!  machos  P''  and  cracking 
at  them  with  a  combination  whip  and  blinder.  With  this 
same  blinder  their  eyes  were  covered  while  their  loads 
were  being  put  on  and  taken  off,  at  morning,  noon,  and 
night. 

There  was  a  bit  of  wagon-road  at  first,  as  there  is  out- 
side of  each  of  the  more  important  places  along  the  way. 
This  soon  merged  in  the  trail,  which  was  of  increasing 
wildness.  The  huts  and  hamlets  we  fell  in  with  were 
of  cane,  well  thatched.  There  were  fields  of  cane, 
trains  of  mules  laden  with  sugar-loaves,  and  an  occasional 
stately  sugar  hacienda.  Now  and  then  there  were  the  re- 
mains of  one  ruined  in  the  wars.  At  noon  the  mules 
were  unpacked  at  some  favorable  point,  and  the  expedi- 
tion rested  for  several  hours.  It  was  the  custom  to  take 
a  siesta  during  the  extreme  heat  of  the  day.  At  night 
there  were  occasional  mesons^  or  rude  inns,  but  generally 


O.V  HORSEBACK  AND  MULEBACK  TO  ACAPULCO.     271 

our  stopping-place  was  such  accommodation  as  could  be 
offered  by  the  inhabitants  of  the  villages.  The  baggage 
was  piled  up  under  a  thatched  pavilion.  Beds,  consisting 
of  mats  of  stiff  canes  resting  upon  trestles,  w^erc  arranged 
for  us  along-side,  or  in  open  piazzas.  These,  in  the  warm 
nights,  were  more  agreeable  than  might  be  supposed.  A 
la  guerre  wmme  a  la  guerre!  Sleeping  almost  under  the 
Ijelle  etoile,  you  could  study'  the  constellations,  the  out- 
lines of  strange,  dark  hills,  your  own  thoughts,  and  hear 
the  dogs  bark,  down  at  remote  Sacocoyuca,  Rincon,  and 
Dos  Arroyos,  and  there  was  not  a  little  pleasant  novelty 
in  the  situation.     At  the  gray  of  dawn  we  were  off. 

The  people,  all  of  Aztec  blood,  were  gentle  with  us, 
lionest,  and  not  much  less  comfortable  in  their  circum- 
stances than  farmers  newly  established  at  the  West, 
The  predicted  difficulties  of  the  undertaking  largely 
melted  away.  It  rained  chiefly  at  night;  there  were  but 
one  or  two  showers  in  the  daytime,  though  of  these  one 
was  very  hard.  The  food  obtained  along  the  way  was  of 
rustic  quality,  and  occasionally  scanty,  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  was  often  excellent.  Chickens  were  generally  to 
be  had,  wuth  fried  bananas  as  the  most  frequent  vegeta- 
ble accompaniment.  The  national  dish  of  frijoles  (black 
beans)  was  always  palatable.  There  was  milk  in  the 
morning,  but  not  at  night,  the  cows  being  milked  but 
once  a  day.  We  foraged  more  or  less  for  ourselves. 
The  colonel  would  demand  a  couple  of  eggs  under  the 
off-hand  formula  of  un  jpar  de  hlanquillos,  which  can 
hardly  be  translated,  but  is  as  much  as  to  say,  "A  pair  of 
little  white  'uns."  lie  declared  it  "a  miserable  popula- 
tion "  where  they  were  not  to  be  had. 

On  the  very  first  day  out  Don  Marcos  came  to  say  that 
he  had  no  money  with  which  to  buy  feed  for  the  ani- 
mals.    It  was  with  the  reserve  I  had  retained,  doled  out 


272         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

little  by  little,  that  this  necessary  purpose  was  thereafter 
accomplished,  and  the  arriero  perhaps  kept  from  leaving 
us  in  tlie  lurch. 

It  was  a propos  of  this  incident  that  my  first  glimpse 
into  the  peculiar  nature  and  inclinations  of  the  colonel 
was  obtained.  It  was  now  evident  that  it  would  have 
been  better  not  to  have  paid  the  man  in  advance.  But 
the  colonel  refused  either  to  regret  that  he  had  done  so 
or  to  regard  it  as  a  lesson  for  the  future. 

"I  am  a  philosopher,"  he  said.  "The  philosopher 
makes  no  account  of  such  things." 

These  views  he  professed  also  on  other  occasions,  and 
seemed,  with  a  bravado  of  stoicism,  almost  to  go  in  search 
of  inconveniences. 

"But  is  it  not  rather  philosophy,"  I  argued,  "to  avoid 
such  inconveniences  as  one  can  by  a  little  exercise  of 
forethought,  and  then  endure  the  inevitable  with  equa- 
nimity ?" 

"No;  that  is  the  civilian's,  not  the  soldier's,  point  of 
view,"  he  persisted,  with  obstinacy. 


IV. 

This  route,  probably  no  better,  and  certainly  no  worse, 
was  travelled,  as  now,  nearly  a  hundred  years  before  the 
Pilgrims  landed  at  Plymouth  Pock.  It  was  the  sole 
highway  between  Acapulco,  the  only  really  excellent 
port  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  the  capital.  It  has  seen 
the  transit  of  convoys  of  treasure,  slaves,  silks,  and  spices 
from  the  Indies,  bound  in  part  for  Old  Spain.  A  reg- 
ular galleon  used  to  sail  from  Acapulco  for  supplies  of 
Oriental  goods.  It  has  seen  the  march  of  royalist  troops, 
under  the  sixty-four  viceroys,  and  of  many  a  wild  insur- 
gent  troop.    Morelos  operated  here,  with  his  bandit  hand- 


ON  HORSEBACK  AND  MULEBACK  TO  ACAPULCO.     2T3 

kerchief  round  his  head,  and  kept  the  district  clear  of 
Spaniards  down  to  the  sea  at  Acapulco.  By  one  of  tlie 
rivers  still  lies  the  massive  stone- work  for  a  bridge,  the 
construction  of  which  was  abandoned  in  the  War  of  In- 
dependence, seventy  years  ago. 

Most  momentous  of  all  the  processions  it  has  seen, 
however,  must  be  counted  that  of  Iturbide,  who  returned 
along  it,  with  his  new  tri-colored  flag  of  the  three  guar- 
antees— Religion,  Union,  and  Independence — to  the  cap- 
ital, to  make  himself,  for  a  brief  season,  Emperor,  This 
brilliant  figure,  of  such  an  ignominious  end,  is  still  great- 
ly honored  in  Mexico,  and  there  is  something  rather  typ- 
ical of  Mexico,  or  of  Spanish  America  generally,  in  his 
history.  Taking  the  position  which  would  have  been 
that  of  a  Tory  here,  he  fought  against  the  earlier  insur- 
rection of  his  country,  from  its  outbreak,  in  180S,  till 
1820.  Sent  in  command  of  an  army  against  the  rebel 
chief  Guen-ero  in  the  latter  year,  he  united  with  instead 
of  attacking  him,  seized  a  convoy  of  treasure  to  serve  as 
sinews  of  war,  and  drew  up  at  Iguala — a  charming  little 
city  on  the  route — a  plan  of  independence  of  his  own. 
The  Viceroy,  in  despair,  tried  to  buy  him  back  with 
promises  of  pardon,  money,  and  higher  command,  but 
without  success.  He  made  a  triumphal  entry  into  the 
capital  in  September,  1821.  In  May  of  the  following  year 
a  sedition,  which  he  had  without  doubt  artfully  set  on  foot, 
roused  him  at  his  hotel  at  night,  with  a  clamor  that  he 
should  become  Emperor.  He  appeared  upon  his  balcony 
and  affected  to  reluctantly  consent  to  the  popular  will. 

He  modelled  himself  after  Napoleon,  nearly  his  con- 
temporary. There  is  a  portrait  of  him  at  the  National 
Palace,  in  the  same  gorgeous  coronation  robes  affected  by 
the  latter,  though  in  his  own  whiskered  countenance  he 
is  more  like  the  English  Prince  Eegent  of  the  same  date. 

12* 


274  OLD  MEXICO   AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

In  August  he  imprisoned  some  Deputies,  and  in  October, 
still  following  his  illustrious  prototype,  put  his  trouble- 
some Congress  out-of-doors.  But  in  October  also  the 
country  rose  against  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  leave  it 
and  take  refuge  in  England.  lie  returned  again  in  Julj^ 
of  the  next  year — another  Napoleon  from  Elba ;  but,  in- 
stead of  sweeping  the  country  with  enthusiasm,  he  was 
seized  upon  landing,  and  ordered  to  prepare  for  death 
within  two  hours.  Four  days  of  grace  were  finally  given 
him,  and  then  he  was  shot. 

Iturbide  was  a  person  of  a  highly  politic  turn,  as  has 
been  seen.  A  thorough  devotee  of  expediency,  he  main- 
tained (and  there  was  not  a  little  truth  in  this)  that  a  peo- 
ple made  up  so  largely  of  Indian  serfs  suddenly  released 
from  tyranny  was  not  ready  for  self-government.  He 
said  that  he  had  meant  the  Empire  to  be  only  temporary. 
He  had  shown  no  personal  valor  in  the  service  of  his 
country,  as  there  had  been  no  occasion  for  it ;  all  his  act- 
ual fighting  had  been  against  it.  Yet  he  is  commemo- 
rated in  the  national  anthem,*  and  a  certain  hold,  in  the 
Napoleonic  way,  which  he  had  upon  the  popular  imagina- 
tion, was  relied  upon  by  the  French  when  they  endeav- 
ored to  establish  Maximilian  in  Mexico.  A  grandson  of 
Iturbide  still  lives  who  was  adopted  by  Maximilian,  in 
order  to  give  his  dynasty  a  more  indigenous  effect,  and 
made  heir  to  the  succession.  The  boy's  mother,  who  at 
first  acquiesced  in  the  usurping  order  of  things,  later 
repented,  and  endeavored  to  get  him  awa3\  This  was 
finally  effected  through  the  mediations  of  Secretary  Sew- 
ard and  Mr.  John  Bigelow,  then  Minister  to  France. 

*  "  Si  a  lo  lid  contra  bueste  enemiga 
Nos  convoca  la  tronipa  guerrera, 
De  Iturbide  la  sacra  baudera, 
Mexicanos  valiontos,  scguid  !" 


CONVERSATIONS   WITH  A    COLONEL.  275 


XXI. 

CONVERSATIONS  BY  THE  WAY  WITH  A    COLONEL. 

I. 

Itukbide  was  the  subject  of  confab  between  the 
colonel  and  myself  as  we  jogged  along  the  way ;  and 
this  led  naturally  up  to  Maximilian.  My  companion 
had  served  under  Escobedo  in  the  campaign  in  which 
Maximilian  was  overthrown,  and  had  witnessed  his  exe- 
cution at  the  tragic  Cerro  de  las  Campanas. 

"He  died  like  a  true  soldier,"  said  the  colonel.  "He 
was  not  afraid ;  though  he  deserved  his  fate,  and  I  would 
not  have  had  it  otherwise." 

It  seems  to  be  the  general  verdict  that  this  ill-starred 
ruler  was  not  without  the  pliysical  fortitude  which  is  es- 
teemed a  part  of  the  heritage  of  princes.  But  he  was 
better  fitted  for  many  other  things  than  the  task  of  fast- 
ening a  monarchy  upon  belligerent  Mexico.  I  drew  the 
conversation,  when  an  opening  appeared,  to  the  present 
novel  relations  of  Mexico  with  our  own  country. 

"  Had  1  the  authority,"  said  the  colonel,  frankly,  "  I 
would  never  have  granted  the  railroad  charters  which  are 
making  this  great  bustle.  I  fear  the  aggressions  of  the 
Americans.  The  conservative  Mexican  policy  is  to  grant 
you  such  privileges  only  when  they  are  balanced  by  others 
to  Europeans.  This  was  the  consistent  policy  of  Juarez 
and  Lerdo.  It  was  Portirio  Diaz,  during  his  presidency, 
who  first  broke  it  down  and  brought  this  invasion  upon  us." 


276         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

"  We,  on  the  contrary,  incline  to  make  it  one  of  his 
merits,"  I  said — "a  pi'oof  of  his  superior  enliglitennient. 
He  stepped  over  the  boundaries  of  narrow  prejudice  and 
jealousy,  and  allowed  a  beginning  to  be  made  of  develop- 
ing the  country  by  those  who  were  ready  to  do  it,  with- 
out waiting  farther  fur  those  who  would  not." 

"  His  enemies  say  he  was  bought,"  rejoined  the  colonel, 
who  had  evidently  no  great  love  for  Porfirio.  "He  has 
not  been  wholly  above  corruption  in  his  time.  He  made 
fabulous  sums  out  of  the  liquidation  of  the  military  ar- 
rears, for  instance.  He  paid  a  million  dollars  for  his 
magnificent  hacienda  in  the  state  of  Oaxaca.  Where 
did  that  come  from  ?  That  is  a  great  weakness  among 
us  for  official  corruption.  There  are  too  many  examples 
of  it.  A  defaulting  person  in  a  high  place  is  rarely  pun- 
ished. When  I  see  a  case  of  that  kind  treated  with  se- 
verity I  shall  begin  to  conceive  new  hopes." 

"But,"  I  argued,  "the  Americans  certainly  have  no 
other  designs  than  that  of  commercial  profit.  They  do 
not  want  your  country.  What  Americans  have  anything 
to  gain  by  taking  it  ?  Who  would  put  his  hand  in  his 
pocket  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  war  of  annexation  ?  We 
look  out  for  ourselves  as  individuals,  and  we  fail  to  see 
where  the  profit  comes  in.  We  are  large  enough  now 
to  gratify  our  own  vanity  on  that  score.  Love  of  glory 
and  territorial  aggrandizetaent  is  not  one  of  our  national 
traits.  Spoliation  might  rather  be  feared  at  the  hands 
of  some  ambitious  princo,  if  you  had  any  such  for  a 
neighbor,  who  could  turn  it  to  personal  account." 

"You  will  not  annex  us  with  bayonets,"  he  returned; 
"  you  will  annex  us  with  dollars.  I  feel  it ;  I  know  it. 
Your  great  commercial  enterprises  will  insensibly  get 
hold  of  the  vitals  of  our  country,  and  the  rest  will  follow. 
Perhaps  there  may  be  disturbances,  and  your  government 


VONVERSATIOXS   WITH  A    COLONEL.  277 

called  in  to  protect  the  property  of  investors.  There  will 
naturally  be  sympathy  for  them  at  home,  and  they  will 
move  heaven  and  earth  rather  than  lose.  A  thousand 
times  better  that  our  country  were  not  developed  at  all 
than  at  such  a  price." 

As  I  still  insisted  upon  the  unreasonableness  of  this 
notion,  the  colonel  continued:  "Even  granting  that. you 
ai'e  sincere  in  what  you  say  of  the  wishes  of  your  people, 
I  feel  that  it  is  the  manifest  destiny  of  Mexico  to  be  taken 
by  the  United  States.  In  former  times  the  Latin  races 
ruled  the  world,  but  in  this  and  the  coming  ages  the  Sax- 
on race  will  do  it.  You  are  a  strong,  commercial  people, 
and  commerce  is  the  bi'eath  of  the  nostrils  of  modern 
civilization.  Look  at  what  you  have  done  in  California 
since  it  ceased  to  be  a  Spanish  province.  I  have  been  at 
San  Francisco — a  great,  splendid  city ;  I  looked  upon  it 
with  amazement.  '  This  was  once  Mexican,'  I  said  to 
myself.  'Ah,  what  a  different  genius  from  that  of  Mex- 
ico!' Yes,  you  will  get  us.  It  will  be  the  amelioration 
of  many  abuses,  and  our  greater  prosperity,  without 
doubt;  but  I  hope  I  shall  never  live  to  see  the  day.  As 
a  patriot,  as  a  soldier,  I  would  give  my  life  fifty  times 
over  rather  than  consent  to  it." 

"But,  since  you  concede  such  benefits  as  probable,"  I 
ventured  to  say,  "  what  is  this  patriotism  upon  which  you 
so  strongly  insist?  AVe  do  not  want  you,  and  have  no 
designs  upon  you,  but — purely  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
and  talking  as  enlightened  persons — is  it  not  ratiier  fan- 
tastic ?  Is  a  boundary-line  such  an  object  in  itself?  May 
not  a  good  deal  that  has  stood  for  patriotism  in  the  past 
be  a  mere  provincial  narrowness?  Supposing  that  Mex- 
ico, or  Canada,  without  force,  but  in  its  own  judgment  of 
what  was  for  the  good  of  its  people,  should  desire  to  be- 
come a  part  of  the  Union,  maintaining  its  organization  in 


278  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

states  and  its  local  solf-governinent  as  now,  and  merely 
sending  delegates  to  Washington  to  represent  it  in  na- 
tional affairs,  would  you,  as  a  Mexican  citizen,  feel  bound 
to  resist,  as  if  it  were  the  consummation  of  something 
scandalous  and  recreant?  Is  not  the  enjoyment  of  life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  to  the  greatest  ad- 
vantage, the  object  of  a  rational  being?  Is  there  any 
virtue  in  an  essential  Mexicanisni,  Americanism,  or  An- 
glicism, that  it  should  be  preserved  at  all  hazards? 

And,  having  asked  many  such-like  questions,  I  endeav- 
ored, farther,  to  explain  a  view  that  we  may  be  all  ap- 
proaching a  great  cosmopolitan  period,  when  we  shall  be 
members  of  a  republic  of  nations,  and  foreigners,  as 
such,  shall  nowhere  any  longer  be  either  dreaded  or  de- 
spised. 

"  That  is  all  very  well,"  said  the  colonel,  stubbornly, 
"since  the  advantage  is  to  fall  on  your  side;  but  I  tell 
you  I  would  give  my  heart's  blood  rather  than  see  it." 

As  to  the  value  of  his  prognostication  I  have  no  opin- 
ion ;  but  this  seriousness  of  conviction  about  the  plans  of 
the  Americans  from  such  a  source  was  full  of  interest. 
It  is  held  by  the  bulk  of  the  Mexican  people,  and  it 
means  trouble  ahead  for  the  enterprises,  since  it  must 
increase  with  their  very  success. 

"  Has  any  party  ever  been  heard  of,  with  you,  in  favor 
of  annexation  ?"  I  went  on  to  ask. 

"  There  is  no  such  party,"  he  replied.  ■'  There  are 
none  who  could  favor  it  —  unless,  singularly  enough,  it 
might  be  the  Church  party.  Protestant  country  though 
you  are,  with  you  they  could  enjoy  a  greater  freedom 
tiian  here.  Since  their  suppression  under  the  War  of  the 
Reform  there  can  be  no  convents,  religious  orders,  nor 
monastic  schools ;  but  in  the  United  States,  I  understand, 
they  could  hfive  as  many  as  they  wished." 


•C0NVERSA7U0NS   WITH  A    COLONEL.  279 

The  colonel  was  rather  fond,  as  stated,  of  dwelling 
upon  the  soldier's  point  of  view.  One  da}',  when  he  had 
been  writing,  as  he  said,  to  his  mother,  he  declared,  in  a 
gloomy  mood,  not  without  its  pathos:  "That  is  the  only 
tie  that  binds  me  to  life.  At  forty-four,  as  you  see  me, 
I  have  passed  through  many  disappointments  and  cha- 
grins. I  have  little  pleasure  in  the  present  and  no  great 
hopes  for  the  future.  Well,  that  is  a  proper  state  of  mind 
for  the  soldier. 

"  The  soldier,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "  should  be  one  who 
either  sets  little  value  upon  life,  and  looks  to  death  as  a 
release,  or  one  having  a  supreme  sense  of  honor,  of  pride 
in  his  profession,  and  duty  to  his  government.  He  makes 
a  contract,  as  it  were,  with  authority.  He  is  well  paid  and 
liighly  considered ;  in  return,  he  must  be  ready  to  spill 
his  blood  whenever  his  employer  demands  it." 


II. 

The  display  of  childisli  selfishness  on  my  companion's 
part  to  which  I  have  adverted  consisted  in  getting  up 
one  morning  and  riding  off  on  my  horse,  without  saying 
so  much  as  "By  your  leave."  He  had  cast  eyes  on  it  as 
we  went  along,  judged  it  to  be  on  tlie  whole  preferable 
to  liis  mule,  and  in  this  direct  way  took  possession.  The 
matter  was  adjusted,  but  not  till  it  had  assumed  at  one 
time  an  almost  international  aspect.  It  was  in  the  cool- 
ness resulting  from  this  incident  that  I  rode  on  alone 
and  first  saw  Iguala. 

The  expedition  had  stopped,  after  its  usual  day's  march, 
before  sunset,  at  the  tropical  hamlet  of  Platanillo.  I 
Was  anxious,  however,  to  pass  the  night  instead  in  the 
notable  city  named.  The  twilight  shuts  down  very  rap- 
idly here,  and  from  the  estimates  of  casual  informants  I 


280  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

liad  miscalculated  the  distance.  ^'- Adelantito,  senor^'^ 
they  said,  after  the  inaccurate  way  of  such  informants — 
"Just  a  little  way  ahead ;"  "J[c«  hajito,  no  mas'''' — "Right 
down  here ;  a  mere  trifle,  that  is  all."  I  had  a  distant 
glimpse  or  two  of  it  from  the  pass,  while  the  sun  glowed 
like  a  beacon-fire  on  the  crests  of  vast  mountains  encom- 
passing its  little  valley.  A  small  lake  sparkled  in  its  vi- 
cinity, and  {)lantations  of  cane  near  it  showed  a  brighter 
green.  Of  the  town  itself,  which  might  have  been  a 
mammoth  hacienda,  only  a  dome  and  a  few  white  spots 
appeared  out  of  the  midst  of  a  quadrangle  of  foliage 
marked  off  on  all  sides  to  an  even  line.  Then  night 
came  on,  a  dark  and  cloudy  one,  though  without  rain. 
My  horse  slipped  with  me  on  the  steep  over  rolling 
stones.  It  was  no  longer  safe  to  ride  after  that,  and  I 
led  him  most  of  the  way,  picking  out  the  path  in  the 
dark.  The  view  had  been  very  deceptive,  and  we  had 
many  miles  to  go. 

Lonely  gulches,  brooks,  and  bits  of  wood  were  passed. 
Cows  had  gone  to  sleep  in  upland  pastures,  and  one  occa- 
sionally loomed  up,  a  mysterious  shape,  in  the  path  and 
took  herself  out  of  the  way.  The  rays  of  a  clouded  moon 
gleamed  now  and  then  on  a  white  patch  of  the  lake,  but 
the  city  seemed  to  have  vanished  out  of  existence.  At 
last,  however,  a  dim  light  in  a  dome,  then  a  barking  of 
dojjs,  and  audible  human  voices.  All  this  time  there  had 
been  neither  house  nor  hut.  It  was  after  nine  o'clock. 
I  came  close  up  to  one  of  the  formal  lines  of  trees, 
opened  a  gate  in  it,  and  was  in  the  midst  of  Iguala. 

I  do  not  know  whether  the  place  has  quite  advantages 
enough  to  offset  so  much  discomfort.  What  there  is  to 
be  seen  could  easily  have  been  taken  in  the  next  day  on 
the  march.  There  is  no  other  vestige  of  Iturbide  yielded 
to  iiiquirj'  than  the  house  in  which  the  Plan  of  Iguala  is 


CONVERSATIONS  WITH  A    COLONEL. 


281 


2S2  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

said  to  have  been  signed — the  oldest,  as  it  is  one  of  the 
shabbiest,  in  the  place.  It  is  of  one  storj,  like  most  pro- 
vincial Mexican  houses,  with  the  whitewash  badly  rubbed 
oif  its  adobes,  and  is  now  a  poor  fonda,  or  restaurant, 
without  so  much  as  a  sign. 

But  Iguala  is  charming.  A  row  of  clean,  white  colon- 
nades, made  up  of  square  pillars  of  masonry,  supporting 
red-tiled  roofs,  extends  around  a  central  plaza.  The  win- 
dows of  the  better  residences  are  closed,  not  with  glass, 
but  projecting  wooden  gratings  of  turned  posts,  painted 
green.  Tlie  market,  a  little  paved  plaza,  opening  from 
the  other,  consists  of  a  series  of  double  colonnades,  light, 
commodious,  and  very  attractive.  The  church,  of  a  no- 
ble, massive  form,  made  gay  by  an  azure  belfry  and  clock, 
stands  in  a  grassy  enclosure  surrounded  by  posts  and 
chains.  Across  the  way  is  the  zocalo,  with  brick  benches, 
deep,  grateful  shade  of  tamarindos,  as  large  as  elms,  and 
arbors  draped  with  sweet-peas  in  blossom.  Sucli  a  park, 
such  a  church,  and  such  a  market  could  be  conscientious- 
ly recommended  as  worth}^  of  any  populace  in  the  world. 
The  heads  of  palm-trees  star  the  heavier,  j^orthern-look- 
ing  foliage.  Grass  sprouts  plentifully  between  the  cob- 
ble-stones, and  gives  a  rural  air,  A  band  played  in  the 
zocalo  in  the  evening,  though  there  was  but  a  small  scat- 
tering of  persons  to  hear  it. 

As  I  was  making  a  sketch  of  the  zocalo  from  a  portal 
some  very  well-dressed  j'oung  men  and  a  professor  came 
out.  It  proved  that  this  house  was  a  school,  and  a  pleas- 
ant one  it  seemed. 

^^Amigo^'' — friend — they  said,  in  a  rather  patronizing 
tone, "  what  is  your  interest  in  this  place?  "What  is  3'our 
picturing  designed  for?" 

Three  days  farther  on  is  Chilpancingo,  to  which  also 
complimentary  terms— in  a  k\sser  measure  than  Iguala — 


CONVERSATIONS   WITH  A    COLONEL.  283 

inaj  be  applied.  It  is  the  capital  of  this  rugged  Guerre- 
ro, a  state  named  after  the  patriot  general,  who  was  once, 
like  our  own  Marcos  and  Vincente  Lopez,  a  muleteer.  It 
contains  an  ornate  Government-house,  a  zocalo  with  a 
music-stand  ;  and  we  met  here  a  colonel  of  the  detach- 
ment of  cavalry  guarding  the  countr}',  gotten  up  in  such 
dapper  civilian  riding-dress  as  if  for  a  promenade  in  Cen- 
tral Park,  Population — but  populations  are  hard  to  get 
at  in  Mexico.  I  should  say,  at  random,  for  either  place, 
about  three  thousand  people. 

At  Chilpancingo  you  see  the  place  in  which  the  orig- 
inal Declaration  of  Independence  of  Mexico  was  pro- 
claimed, in  1813,  It  had  to  be  fought  for  many  a  long 
year  till  the  day  of  Iturbide.  This  is  merely  a  white 
house  with  a  tablet,  and  not  of  farther  interest.  It  was 
a  wild  and  problematic  cause,  truly,  when  remote  Chilpan- 
cingo was  resorted  to  by  the  first  constituent  Congress, 
assembled  by  Padre  Morelos,  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
Spain, 

But  how  has  all  this  been  done?  These  little  bits  of 
ornate  civilization  are  like  enchanted  places  which  we 
happen  upon  in  penetrating  the  fastnesses  of  the  moun- 
tains. Perhaps  we  had  better  take  out  at  once  some 
such  commission  as  that  of  the  Adelantado  of  the  Seven 
Cities;  and  yet  greater  discoveries  may  await  us,  never 
before  heard  of  by  man.  Each  lies  in  its  miniature  val- 
ley, smiling  and  fertile,  with  wagon-roads  for  a  little 
space  around;  but  their  inhabitants  can  hardly  be  con- 
ceived as  going  over  the  wild  trail  to  supply  themselves 
with  the  fashions  and  comforts  they  possess. 

Candid  judges  from  without  would  pronounce  it  im- 
passable, and  think  it  a  practical  joke  that  they  were 
asked  to  consider  it  a  road.  We  crossed  and  recrossed 
swift,  small  streams,  the  water  reaching  to  the  animals' 


284  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

slioiilders.  The  colonel  had  a  way  of  dangling  his  niilitaiy 
boots  on  such  occasions  in  the  water,  to  let  me  see  how 
excellently  they  were  made;  but  one  night,  I  observed,  he 
could  not  get  them  off,  and  the  next  morning  he  could 
not  get  them  on.  All  of  one  day  we  traversed  the  Cana- 
da.^ or  gorge,  of  Cholitla,  over  a  sandy  bed  of  which  the 
Hood  had  not  yet  taken  possession ;  another  day,  the 
Caiiada  del  Zopilote.  Our  old  friend  of  the  North,  the 
ailanthus,  was  common  where  other  natural  features  were 
dreariest,  and  often  filled  the  air  insufferably  with  its 
odor.  The  three  rivers  crossing  our  way  were  swollen 
indeed,  as  had  been  predicted.  When  we  came  down 
to  the  wide  Mescala  it  was  opaque  with  red  soil,  and 
tearing  past  at  twenty  miles  an  hour.  We  were  trans- 
ported across  it  in  a  flat  skiff  guided  by  an  oar.  There 
was  no  plank  to  aid  in  the  embarking  of  the  horses,  and 
one  of  them  fell  into  such  a  panic  as  caused  a  terrific 
combat  of  well-nigh  half  an  hour.  He  was  finally  thrown 
on  board,, more  dead  than  alive,  with  lassoed  legs. 

"Ah,  what  a  soul  you  have!"  {Ah,  que  alma  tienes !) 
cried  Marcos  fervently  to  his  animal,  which  had  well-nigh 
kicked  us  all  into  the  river;  and  losing  all  policy  in  his 
rage,  he  begged  to  borrow  my  revolver,  that  he  might 
despatch  such  a  brute,  of  the  ownership  of  which  he  was 
ashamed. 

The  Papagallo  River  succeeding,  we  crossed  in  a  dug- 
out, and  the  animals  swam.  I  asked  the  colonel,  in  my 
simplicity,  if  this  were  not  more  or  less  like  war,  meaning 
the  manner  of  travel,  our  foraging,  half  open-air  way  of 
sleeping,  and  the  like.  He  smiled  in  disdain,  and  gave 
me  a  sketch  of  his  campaigns  in  the  day  of  the  French 
usurpation.  The  rightful  government  had  had  at  one 
time  so  little  foothold  in  the  country  that  it  was  called 
the  Government  of   Paso  del  Norte,  from  the  farthest 


CONVERSATIONS  WITH  A    COLONEL.  285 

town  on  tlie  northern  frontier,  to  wliicli  it  was  driven. 
Eating  and  sleeping  seem  hardly  to  liave  been  the  custom 
at  all  till,  by  an  unremitting  guerilla  warfare,  the  tide 
M-as  turned. 

When  we  came  to  "the  Cajoncs,"  however,  he  admit- 
ted that  this  was  a  little  like  war.  We  slipped  and  slid 
all  one  day  down  the  Cajones — natural,  or  rather  mof^t 
wofully  unnatural,  steps  in  the  solid  rock,  in  the  midst 
of  a  dark  forest.  The  perpendiculars  are  three  and  four 
feet  at  a  time,  and  often  there  are  mud-holes  at  the  bot- 
tom ;  and  besides,  there  are  vines  that  aim  to  take  you 
under  the  chin.  The  sagacious  steadiness  of  the  pack- 
mules,  picking  their  steps  unaided  in  the  most  critical 
situations,  was  wonderful  to  see. 

We  met  peons,  in  white  cotton,  coming  up  with  barrels 
of  ardent  spirits  on  their  shoulders,  and  we  came  to  a  full 
stop  to  allow  the  passage  of  jingling  mule-trains  of  goods. 
The  water  ran  in  the  path  with  us,  courteously  sharing  its 
right  of  way.  At  one  place  it  increased  and  converged 
from  every  side,  and  the  wood  was  full  of  its  murmurs, 
as  if  another  universal  deluo;e  were  cominc:  to  overwhelm 
us.  It  was  full,  also,  of  patches  of  pale-green  light  upon 
jnoss-covered  stones,  and  limpid  pools,  and  delicate  ferns, 
like  snow  crystals  turned  vegetable.  Now  and  then  some 
white  cascade  stood  out  of  the  semi-obscurity  like  a  beck- 
oning Undine. 

Among  vegetable  growths  on  the  way  was  the  gum- 
copal,  not  unlike  our  white  birch.  There  was  a  tree,  the 
cuahnete — if  I  may  trust  the  pronunciation  of  JMarcos — 
smooth,  bronze-colored,  ajid  often  of  a  repulsive  red,  as  if 
full  of  blood.  We  saw  a  good  many  charming  red-and- 
yellow  flowers  on  a  high  bush,  like  butterflies  alighted, 
and  once  or  twice  a  sprig  of  heliotrope. and  a  calla-lily. 
The  amajye,  found  in  the  villages,  and  somewhat  like  the 


2SG  OLB  MEXICO  AXD  HER   LOST  PROVIXCES. 

chestnut,  was  tlie  finest  shade-tree.  There  was  a  notable 
absence  throughout  the  journey  of  what  we  are  accus- 
tomed to  deem  the  essentially  tropical  features.  Very 
often  one  might  have  been  riding  in  the  woods  of  Con- 
necticut. There  was  not  even  a  rank  luxuriance  of 
growth,  just  as  there  were  no  serpents  nor  the  swarms 
of  pestiferous  insects  (other  than  a  few  gruits)  to  have 
been  expected.  We  saw  once  a  couple  of  coyote  wolves 
trotting  demurely  along,  and,  again,  a  large  iguana.,  a 
harmless  reptile,  one  of  which  I  also  noted  later,  gliding 
around  an  old  bronze  gun  at  the  fort  of  Acapulco. 

Birds  I  hardly  recollect  at  all,  except  a  white  heron  or 
two,  charmingly  reflected  in  an  upland  pool  one  early 
morning,  and  the  tecuses,  a  kind  of  black-bird.  Vincente 
pelted  at  these  latter  with  small  stones,  by  way  of  trying 
]iis  aim.  The  organ-cactus,  however,  should  be  exempted 
from  the  complaint  of  a  Avant  of  tropicality.  It  abounds 
thickly  about  the  gorges  and  on  the  mountain  slopes. 
Rising  twenty-five  feet  and  more  in  height,  the  plants 
are  like  seven-branched  candlesticks  of  the  Mosaic  law, 
or  spears  of  tlie  gods  hurled  down  and  yet  quivering  in 
the  earth.  The  fan -palm,  too,  must  be  excepted.  It 
crops  out  on  the  bleak  hill-sides  as  common  as  mullein- 
stalks  with  us.  I  can  never  respect  it,  in  the  conserva- 
tories, again.  To  see  it  thus  was  a  kind  of  shock  :  it  was 
like  seeing  some  exotic  belle  of  society  masquerading  as 
a  kitchen  wench.  For  one  day  before  reaching  the  coast 
we  had  the  cocoa-nut-palms.  Nobody  in  the  hamlets 
would  get  the  fruit  down  for  us  except  on  a  wholesale 
order,  for  munificent  prices,  which  brought  the  cost  above 
Avhat  it  is  in  New  York.  There  was  often  a  shortage  of 
the  other  fruits  and  commodities,  as  sugar,  in  the  same 
way,  in  or  near  the  very  places  where  they  grew. 

Toward  the  concludin<T:  stashes  of  the  march  we  fell  in 


COXVERSATIOXS  WITH  A    COLONEL.  2S7 

M'ith  another  travelling-companion,  an  officer  in  the  Cus- 
toms service.  When  he  learned  that  the  colonel  was 
going  to  the  frontier,  with  a  view,  among  other  things, 
to  suppress  the  extensive  smuggling  carried  on  there, 
he  said,  "  You  had  better  make  your  little  $20,000  or 
$30,000  by  protecting  it.  That  will  be  much  less  trou- 
ble. The  smugglers  will  buy  up  jour  soldiers,  anyway; 
so  it  amounts  to  the  same  thing." 

I  must  not  represent  that  the  colonel  was  always  of  an 
oppressively  serious  carriage.  On  the  contrary,  he  devel- 
oped a  vein  of  humor,  the  more  amusing  from  the  simple 
guod-faith  of  those  at  whose  expense  it  was  generally  ex- 
ercised. 

"Do  yon  charge  no  more  than  this  to  persons  of  our 
consideration,  my  good  woman  V  he  said  to  a  peasant, 
whose  bill  was  modest,  though  but  in  keeping  with  the 
primitive  nature  of  the  accommodations.  "It  is  a  species 
of  affront,  as  one  might  say.  Do  yon  comprehend  that  I 
am  a  colonel  in  the  army,  and  this  gentleman  a  learned 
traveller,  noting  down  the  manners  and  customs  of  for- 
eign lands?  When  strangers  of  our  position  come  this 
way  again  understand  that  double  what  you  liave  de- 
manded is  the  least  that  you  should  take." 

The  woman,  abashed,  received  double  her  fee,  and  re- 
plied that  she  would  bear  the  lesson  in  mind  for  the 
benefit  of  future  comers. 

Again,  meeting  three  honest-faced  Indian  niaids,  with 
pitchers  on  their  heads,  going  to  the  spring,  he  said, 
"Good-day,  Marias!"  and  turning  to  me,  in  an  aside, 
"Not  that  I  know,  from  Adam,  whether  one  of  them 
is  Maria  or  not." 

He  praised  glaringly,  to  her  face,  as  of  exceeding  come- 
liness, a  servant-maid  who  wore  gold  ear-rings  and  neck- 
lace, and  was,  perhaps,  not  of  more  than  average  dunipi 


288  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

iiess  and  plainness.  She  waited  on  us  at  table  at  Tierra 
Colorada.     The  colonel  desired  to  know  her  name. 

"Victoria." 

"  Well  are  you  named  Victoria !"  he  cried,  in  simulated 
enthusiasm.  '■*■  Que  cara  simjydtica ! ^^  ("What  a  sympa- 
thetic face !")  he  repeated  at  intervals. 

Meekly,  and  with  no  suspicion  of  raillery,  she  replied, 
each  time,  '■^Mll  gracias  ("A  thousand  thanks"),  senor^'' 

"  Give  thanks  rather  to  Heaven,  which  made  you  so, 
and  not  us,  who  do  but  recog-nize  it,"  rejoined  the  coloTiel, 
piously. 

At  La  Veiita  de  Peregrino  the  night  was  hot,  and  it 
still  rained,  after  having  rained  all  day.  A  garden  of 
bananas  twenty  feet  tall  grew  next  the  basket-like  house 
of  canes  where  we  stopped.  We  hung  up  our  wet  gar- 
ments and  properties  on  the  poles  of  the  thatched  porch, 
or  pavilion,  till  it  resembled  one  of  those  very  numer- 
ous national  establishments,  the  emjKnos,  or  pawn-shops. 
Dogs,  cats,  donkeys,  horses,  pigs  and  fowls — "  shooed  "  out, 
whan  the}'  became  too  familiar,  with  an  emphatic  Ooeh-t! 
— gathered  under  the  same  shelter,  as  if  it  had  been  a 
Noah's  ark.  We  sapped  on  pepper-sauce,  tough  chicken, 
frijoles,  tortillas,  cream-cheese,  and  coffee  without  milk, 
spread  out  upon  a  mat  on  the  ground.  The  proprietor  in 
person — a  man  in  an  embroidered  shirt  and  cotton  draw- 
ers, whose  talk  was  not  of  the  wisest  sort — held  pitch-pine 
splints  to  light  the  feast. 

"  Now,  how  does  it  happen,  hombre,"  inquired  the  colo- 
nel, as  if  in  a  speculative  way,  "  that  a  person  of  your  fine 
appearance ;  a  person  of  manners,  intelligence,  education, 
hospitality  ;  a  statesman,  as  one  might  say,  who  goes  to 
Dos  Arroyos  to  see  \vho  is  going  to  be  elected  mayor"  (the 
man  had  been  there  that  day,  as  he  told  us),  "  with  a  tine 
house  like  this — how  docs  it  happen,  I  say,  that  you  have 


CONVERSATIONS   WITH  A    COLONEL.  289 

not  a  table  of  any  sort  to  serve  two  travellers  a  supper 
upon  ?" 

"Po5  hien,^''  said  the  illiterate  host,  both  pleased  and 
flustered,  scratching  his  head,  "  Tables  ?  Yes,  tables,  now, 
to  be  sure.  All  that  you  say  is  very  true,  but  there  is  a 
great  scarcity  of  carpenters  in  this  part  of  the  country. 
SI,  escasen  ftiuncho  (Yes,  they  are  mighty  scarce),  I  can 
tell  you." 

III. 

Two  days  after  this  we  came  down  to  Acapulco,  It  is 
a  town  for  the  most  part  of  straggling  huts,  with  a  strag- 
gling thirty-five  hundred  of  people.  It  has  no  vestiges 
of  its  antiquity  but  an  old  Spanish  fort,  after  the  order 
of  Morro  Castle,  dismantled  by  Maximilian's  French  on 
their  aljandonment  of  the  place. 

Near  the  fort  lay  a  couple  of  rusted  rails  in  position  on 
a  bit  of  washed-out  embankment,  the  beginning  of  a  rail- 
road inaugurated  here  with  a  flourish  on  the  5th  of  May, 
1881.  Having  passed  over  the  line,  one  would  judge  that 
it  mio;ht  be  much  more  than  dread  of  American  ao^o-res- 
sions  which  would  prevent  its  speedy  completion. 

There  was  no  small  pleasure  in  discovering  at  last,  like 
another  Balboa,  the  Pacific  Ocean,  in  boarding  the  fine 
steamer  of  the  Pacific  Mail  Company,  the  City  of  Gren- 
ada, which  had  come  her  long  jaunt  from  Panama  north- 
ward, and  re-establishing  connection  with  the  outer  M'orld. 

With  this,  too,  began  an  acquaintance  with  the  western 
ports  of  Mexico.  One  of  the  semi-monthly  steamers, 
rightly  chosen,  each  month  puts  into  them  all.  An  idea 
of  the  country  can  thus  be  got  which  would  not  be  possi- 
ble otherwise  without  much  greater  fatigue  and  expense, 
but  it  is  not  at  all  as  favorable  as  that  presented  by  the 
interior. 

13 


290 


OLD  MEXICO  A  AW  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


Neitlicr  of  the  three  lower  ports  is  of  great  size.  Aca- 
piilco  has  the  most  complete  and  charming  harbor.  Man- 
zanillo  is  a  small  strip  of  a  place,  on  the  beach,  built  of 
wood,  with  quite  an  American  look.  The  volcano  of 
Colima  appears  inland,  with  a  light  cloud  of  smoke 
above  it. 


THE    BKLLS    OF    SAN    BLAS. 


San  Bias  is  larger,  but  still  hardly  more  than  an  exten- 
sive thatched  village.  On  the  bluff  beside  it  exist  the  ruins 
of  an  ancient,  substantial  San  Bias,  shaken  to  pieces  by  an 
earthquake.  Some  old  bronze  bells  from  its  church  have 
been  brought  down  and  set  up  on  some  rude  wooden 
trestles,  on  the  ground  in  front  of  the  poor  chapel,  with- 
out a  belfry,  which  now  fills  the  ecclesiastical  needs  of 
the  place.  This  arrangement  is  sometimes  referred  to 
satirically  as  la  torre  de  San  Bias — the  steeple  of  San 


CONVERSATIONS   WITH  A    COLONEL.  291 

Bias.  My  slight  sketch  of  these  bells,  made  ou  a  fly-leaf 
of  my  note-book  in  the  first  instance,  came  to  have  an 
importance  far  beyond  its  own  merits.  I  have  the  grati- 
fication of  knowing  that  it  proved  to  be  the  source  of 
nothing  less  than  the  last  inspiration  of  Longfellow.  The 
great  and  good  poet  died  on  the  24th  of  March,  1882. 
In  his  portfolio  was  found  his  final  work,  "  The  Bells  of 
San  Bias,"  dated  March  15,  which  afterward  appeared  in 
the  AtlaiitiG  Monthly.  His  memorandum-book  contained 
a  reference,  as  a  suggestion  for  a  poem,  to  the  number 
and  page  of  IIarper''s  Magazine  of  the  same  month,  in 
which  the  sketch  was  published. 

At  Mazatlan  we  are  in  a  bustling  harbor,  and  a  wxU 
and  handsomely  built  little  city,  with  improvements  and 
shops  of  the  better  sort,  which  other  countries  than  Mex- 
ico might  be  satisfied  with.  It  seems  surprising,  until  we 
comprehend  the  extensive  back  countrj'  which  is  tributary 
to  it,  how  a  city  of  but  fourteen  thousand  people  can  be 
justified  in  maintaining  so  elaborate  a  stock  of  goods. 

"We  steam  finally  across  the  Gulf  of  California  and  up 
the  coast  of  that  peninsula  which  seems  one  of  the  re- 
motest points  of  the  globe.  The  days  are  calm  and  bine ; 
the  bold  outlines  of  the  shores  offer  constant  novelty.  An 
arbitrary  line  is  passed :  we  have  lost  Mexico,  but  gained 
California — the  richest  and  most  marvellous  of  her  prov- 
inces. 

It  is  remarkable  now  to  recall  that,  upon  the  accession 
of  the  Emperor  Itnrbide,  Mexico  boasted  of  being,  with 
the  exception  of  Russia  and  China,  the  most  extensive 
empire  iu  the  world. 


PART    II. 

THE  LOST  PROVINCES. 


THE  LOST  PROVINCES. 


XXII. 

SAJV  FRANCISCO. 


I, 

It  is  the  way  of  sea-coasts,  as  observed  from  the  water, 
to  maintain  a  close  reserve.  If  they  allow  us  a  cliff  or 
two,  a  suggestion  of  green  forests,  or  a  mountain  in  the 
background,  it  is  as  much  as  they  do.  All  their  natural 
projections,  from  a  steamer''s  deck,  retire  into  a  straight 
line.  "  You  have  chosen  your  element,"  they  seem  to  say, 
"  and  you  shall  not  enjoy  at  once  the  pleasures  of  both. 
If  you  can  do  without  me,  so  can  I  without  you,  and  un- 
til you  take  the  pains  to  disembark  you  shall  know  noth- 
ing of  the  attractions  I  purposely  keep  out  of  sight  just 
over  the  surf-whitened  margin." 

The  coast  of  California  seems  of  even  an  especial  mo- 
roseness  in  this  respect.  You  pass  some  few  islands,  in- 
lets at  San  Diego  and  Wilmington,  the  Santa  Barbara 
Channel,  and  the  bays  of  Santa  Monica,  San  Luis,  and 
Monterey ;  but  for  the  most  part  the  coast  of  the  land  of 
gold  stretches  on  unbroken,  low,  brown,  and  bare.  Search 
is  vain  for  any  suggestion  of  orange-grove  or  palm.  It  is 
foreign-looking  to  one  who  arrives  from  the  east  of  the 
United  States.  Lions  might  come  prowling  down  such 
slopes.     It  might  be  Morocco,  and  we,  on   our  travels, 


••2\){j  OLD   MEXICO  AXl)  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

some  new  Crusoe  escaped  in  the  long-boat,  with  Xury, 
from  the  Rover  of  Sallee,  and  afraid  to  land  for  the 
howlings  of  wild  creatures. 

If,  in  our  Pacific  Mail  steamer,  we  were  discovering 
the  country  for  the  first  tiuie — as  every  traveller  does 
discover  a  new  country  for  the  first  time,  no  matter  what 
accounts  he  may  have  heard  of  it — we  should  try  along 
without  finding  a  single  good  harbor  for  four  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  from  San  Diego,  at  the  Mexican  fron- 
tier, to  San  Francisco. 

Then  all  at  once  comes  an  opening  throngh  bold  Coast 
Range  at  the  water's  edge,  and  we  are  in  the  far-famed 
"  Golden  Gate."  It  is  a  mere  eyelet — a  strait,  giving  ac- 
cess to  a  wide  exj^anse  of  bay.  So  happy  is  the  opening, 
and  commodious  the  shelter  afforded,  that  the  reversal  of 
the  churlishness  prevailing  up  to  this  point  seems  miracu- 
lous. 

There  is  no  doubt,  when  once  the  site  is  understood,  as 
to  why  San  Francisco  is  located  just  where  it  is.  It  has 
the  only  natural  harbor  between  Astoria,  Oregon,  to  the 
north,  and  San  Diego,  to  the  south.  It  bears,  besides, 
with  this  advantage,  such  a  relation  to  the  resources  of 
the  back  country,  that  it  could  not  escape  a  destiny  of 
greatness. 

It  is  not  simply  a  bay  upon  which  we  have  entered,  but 
an  inland  sea,  with  a  great  commerce  of  its  own.  Imme- 
diately in  front  rise  round-backed  Goat  Island  and  Angel 
Island,  resembling  monsters  asleep;  and  terraced  Alca- 
traz,  with  its  citadel,  as  picturesque  as  a  bit  of  Malta. 
Yistas  open  beyond  on  many  sides,  with  gleams  of  light 
falling  on  white  cities  under  lowering  atmospheres  of 
smoke.  San  Francisco,  close  at  hand,  piles  up  impres- 
sively on  steep  hills,  its  bristling  structures  covering  their 
undulations  sharply  from  numerous   hills.     The   water- 


SAN  FRANCISCO. 


297 


298  OU>   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

front  is  full  of  shipping.  French  and  Russian  and  British 
frigates,  and  a  Mexican  gun-boat,  are  Ij'ing  at  anchor. 
Craft  of  all  shapes  and  sizes  cross  one  another's  wakes 
in  the  harbor.  The  lateen-sails  of  Genoese  and  Maltese 
fishermen  and  the  junks  of  Chinese  shrimp-catchers  are 
among  them.  Large  ferry-boats,  superior,  as  a  rule,  to 
those  we  are  familiar  with  at  the  East,  ply  to  Oakland, 
the  Brooklyn  of  the  scene — a  city  already  of  fifty  thou- 
sand people ;  Alameda,  with  its  esplanade  of  bathing 
pavilions ;  Berkeley,  with  its  handsome  university  and 
institution  for  blind,  deaf,  and  dumb;  San  Quentin,  with 
its  prison  ;  and  rustic  Saucelito  and  San  Rafael,  under  the 
dark  shadow  of  Mount  Tamalpais. 

From  Oakland  projects  an  interminable  pier,  built  by 
the  Central  Pacific  Railway.  A  mile  in  length  as  it  is, 
it  was  to  have  gone  on  to  a  junction  with  vacant  Goat 
Island,  which  would  then  have  been  made  a  city  also,  and 
become  the  terminus  of  all  transcontinental  journeys. 
This  project  was  stopped  by  violent  opposition  from 
property-holders  on  shore. 

Patches  of  yellow,  under  the  Presidio,  are  taken  by  our 
novices  on  the  steamer  for  the  "  Sand-lots,"  famous  in 
the  Kearneyite  agitations.  The  Presidio  is  a  barracks, 
which  was  a  fort  and  mission  in  the  time  of  the  first  set- 
tlement by  the  Spaniards  —  to  what  slight  extent  they 
ever  settled  the  place — in  the  year  1776.  The  man  who 
has  "been  here  before"  plants  himself  squarely  on  the 
deck,  pulls  down  a  silk  cap  over  his  e^'es,  and  explains 
that  the  Sand-lots  are  not  the  Presidio,  but  nothing  less 
than  the  large  yard  of  the  new,  unfinished  City-hall,  in 
the  centre  of  town.  But  Kearneyism  is  dead  and  buried, 
he  says — as  the  case  proved — and  there  will  be  no  chance 
to  see  one  of  these  traditional  assemblages. 

He  names  for  us  the  various  hills,  and  points  out  the 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  301 

Palace  Hotel,  the  Market  Street  shot-tower,  and  the  homes 
of  some  of  the  great  millionnaires  who  have  made  such  a 
stir  iti  their  day  and  generation.  Three  or  four  of  these 
latter  top  California,  or  "Nob,"  Hill,  with  a  prominence 
in  keeping  with  their  owners'  station.  They  are  those  of 
the  railroad  kings,  Crocker,  Stanford,  and  Hopkins — the 
mining  kings  having  up  to  this  time  expended  their  prin- 
cipal building  efforts  in  the  country.  "Nob"  Hill  is 
three  hundred  feet  high,  plebeian  Telegraph  Hill  nearly 
as  mucli,  and  Enssian  Hill,  to  the  west — the  latest  pre- 
cinct taken  into  favor  for  line  residences — three  hundred 
and  sixty.  Murray  Hill,  New  York,  be  it  noted,  is  but 
seventy-eight.  The  riff-raff  of  Telegraph  Hill  climb,  as 
is  seen,  by  a  multitude  of  wooden  stairways;  but  how  in 
the  world  do  the  Croesuses  get  up  to  their  habitations, 
which  cut  the  sky-line  so  imposingly?     We  shall  see. 

The  city  does  not  begin  directly  at  the  ocean,  but  a 
mile  or  two  within.  It  follows  the  inner  shore  of  a 
long,  narrow  peninsula  which  comes  from  the  south  to 
meet  one  coming  from  the  north,  and  forms  with  it  the 
strait  and  bay. 

It  is,  indeed,  an  inland  sea,  this  bay.  You  go  south- 
ward upon  it  thirty  miles,  northward  as  far,  and  thirty 
miles  north-eastward  to  the  Straits  of  Carquinez — which 
has  Benicia  on  one  side,  and  Martinez,  the  point  of  de- 
parture for  ascent  of  the  peak  of  Mount  Diablo,  on  the 
other.  Through  these  straits  you  pass,  again,  into  Suisun 
Bay,  which  receives  the  waters  of  the  Sacramento  and 
San  Joaquin  rivers,  and  is  itself  some  twenty  miles  in 
extent. 

II.      . 

You  are  struck,  on  coming  ashore  from  Mexico,  with 
the  excessive  thinness  of  everything  American.     Our  be- 


302  OLD    MKXICO  AXD   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

longings  seem  all  of  a  piece  with  our  light-running  ma-  ' 
chinery,  with  the  spider  lines  of  yon  American  buggy 
waiting  for  its  owner.  "We  evade  Nature  by  a  deft  trick, 
and  do  not  obstinately  oppose  her.  There  the  old  walls 
were  as  solid  yet  as  the  everlasting  hills;  here  we  seemed 
to  be  living  in  flying-machines. 

IIow  strange,  arriving  from  the  other  side  of  the  world, 
to  find  people  lining  the  dock  dressed  in  the  common 
way,  and  chattering  the  common  speech,  even  to  the  lat- 
est bits  of  slang !  A  China  steamer,  however,  had  come 
in  along-side  just  before  us,  and  supplied  a  novel  element 
of  foreignness.  Almond-eyed  Celestials,  in  blue  blouses, 
swarmed  her  decks  and  poured  down  her  sides.  Groups 
were  loaded  into  express-wagons,  and  driven  away  up- 
town in  charge  of  friends  come  down  to  meet  them. 
Others  trudged  stoutly  on  foot,  with  their  effects  depos- 
ited in  a  pair  of  wicker  baskets,  at  the  ends  of  a  long 
bamboo  on  their  shoulders.  This  way  of  carrying  burdens 
is  constantly  met  with.  The  vegetable  dealers  hawk  thus 
their  wares  from  house  to  house,  and  present  the  aspect 
of  the  figures  in  cuts  of  the  tea-fields.  It  is  poor  trav- 
elling when  the  curiosity  alone  and  not  the  imagination 
is  gratified,  and  San  Francisco  promises  ample  material 
for  both. 

Had  we  come  in  the  gold  days  of  '49  we  should  have 
landed  some  half-dozen  blocks  farther  inland  than  to-day. 
By  so  much  has  the  water-front  since  been  extended  and 
built  into  a  solid  commercial  quarter.  The  'Forty-niners 
found  but  a  scanty  strip  of  sand  at  the  base  of  the  steep 
hills. 

Why,  then,  did  they  stop  here,  and  build  their  city  at 
such  infinite  pains  and  expense,  instead  of  seeking  a  more 
convenient  site  elsewhere  ?  There  is,  or  was,  some  even 
more  serious  objection  to  all  other  locations.     At  Oak- 


SAX  FRAXCISCO.  303 

land,  insnflScient  depth  of  water;  at  Saucelito,  where 
whalers,  Russian  and  other,  had  been  aecnstonied  to  reiit, 
Tarnalpais,  2700  feet  high,  as  against  Telegraph  Hill,  but 
300.  Distant  Benicia  and  Vallejo — the  latter  now  the 
naval  station  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  once  briefly  the 
capital  of  the  State — were  much  too  far  away.  Steam 
was  little  in  use.  The  greater  part  of  the  ships  came 
under  sail,  and  there  were  no  tugs  to  pull  them.  They 
must  be  able  to  get  in  and  out  with  the  greatest  attain- 
able expedition. 

Such  ships  as  these  were,  according  to  the  accounts 
we  have  of  tiiem !  The  most  antiquated  and  dangerous 
hulks  were  furbished  up  once  more  for  this  last  voyage. 
The  eager  huinanity  they  carried  took  little  heed  of  per- 
ils and  discomforts  so  they  were  but  on  the  way  to  the 
goal  to  which  all  adventurous  spirits  turned.  When  the 
port  was  still  but  a  beggarly  scattering  of  huts  and  tents 
it  could  muster  two  hundred  sail,  good  and  bad,  at  once. 
Many  of  them  never  got  out  again.  It  was  not  on  ac- 
count of  nautical  difficulties,  but  partly  because  they  had 
no  return  cai-goes,  and  principally  because  their  crews  ran 
away  from  them  to  the  mines  the  moment  foot  touched 
shore.  Certain  craft  were  beached  and  converted  into 
dwellings;  others,  utilized  for  a  time  as  warehouses,  rot- 
ted at  their  moorings,  and  to-day  form  "  made  ground." 
The  remarkable  city  to  which  they  came,  M'hich  had 
eight  hundred  and  fifty  souls  in  1848,  and  twenty  thou- 
sand in  '49,  has  now,  in  an  existence  of  thirty -four 
years,  three  hundred  thousand. 

The  buildings  on  the  level  made  ground  stand  gener- 
ally on  foundations  of  piling.  The  practice  prevails,  too, 
of  tying  them  well  together  with  iron  rods,  agaitist  the 
jar  of  the  occasional  earthquake,  which  is  among  San 
Francisco's  idiosyncrasies.     It  is  proposed  to  improve  the 


304  OLD   MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

water-front  with  a  continuous,  massive  sea-wall,  and  a 
portion  of  this  is  already  built.  Extensive  yards  of  at- 
tractive redwood  lumber,  which  resembles  cedar,  and 
warehouses  for  givain,  are  seen.  The  elevator  system, 
owing  to  lack  of  ships  for  properly  carrying  grain  in 
bulk,  is  nowhere  in  use  throughout  California. 

We  reach  next  an  area  given  up  to  heavy  traffic  in  the 
fruits  and  produce  of  the  country.  Battery  and  Sansome 
streets  succeeding  are  lined  with  lai'ge  wholesale  dry- 
goods  houses  similar  to  those  in  the  greater  Eastern  cities. 
Montgomery  Street  shows  stately  office  buildings,  ex- 
changes, and  hotels.  Kearney  Street  has  been  hitherto 
the  chief  site  of  the  more  elegant  retail  trade.  Its  pres- 
tige is  passing,  however,  to  Market  Street,  a  wide  thor- 
ouo^hfai'e  wliich  recalls  State  Street,  Chicao;o.  Ilavina; 
unlimited  room  for  extension  in  the  north  and  south  di- 
rection of  the  peninsula,  wliereas  the  others  named  are 
contracted,  Market  Street  is  to  be  San  Francisco's  Broad- 
way of  the  future. 

The  financial  centre  is  contained  in  the  area  of  two 
blocks,  between  California  and  Bush,  Sansome  and  Mont- 
gomery Streets.  Here  are  those  institutions  whose  great 
transactions  and  singular  history  are  unknown  now  to  but 
few  parts  of  the  world. 

Tiie  Nevada  Bank,  financial  lever  of  the  Bonanza 
kings,  and  point  from  which  has  been  supposed  to  em- 
anate all  the  weightiest  influences  connected  with  raining 
matters,  is  a  four-story  and  Mansard  iron  building,  with 
the  usual  classic  "  orders."  The  Bank  of  California, 
whence  the  brilliant  Ralston  rushed  forth  from  his 
troubles  to  drown  himself  in  the  bay,  is  two  stories,  of 
"blue  stone,"  of  a  pleasant  color,  and  exceedingly  sharp, 
agreeable  cutting.  The  Merchants'  Exchange,  erected 
so  long  ago  as  18G7,  is  a  verj'  ornate,  town-liall-looking 


■S'.-I.V  FRAXCisro.  3(>7 

building,  of  iron  and  stone,  dark-colored,  with  a  clock- 
tower  in  the  centre.  It  is  adjoined  by  the  Safe  Deposit 
Company,  in  a  similar  style,  in  the  basement  of  which  a 
glimpse  is  to  be  had  of  a  splendid  steel  treasure-chamber, 
with  a  dozen  life-size  men  in  armor,  gilded. 

The  large  and  agreeably  proportioned  Stock  Exchange, 
on  Pine  Street,  is  of  gray  granite,  with  numerous  pol- 
ished columns.  The  board-i'oom  within  is  an  amphithe- 
atre, and  a  bronze  railing  protects  the  circle  of  seats. 
With  its  agreeable  illumination  and  neat  furniture,  in- 
cluding Axminster  rugs,  it  presents  a  much  more  home- 
like aspect  than  is  the  rule  with  such  places.  Mining 
stocks  exclusively  are  dealt  in. 

It  is  quiet  enough  now.  We  have  fallen  upon  evil 
days.  Capitalists  have  withdrawn  their  millions  to  the 
East ;  ships  come  only  in  ballast,  for  grain,  instead  of 
with  valuable  exchange  cargoes,  and  charge  rates  almost 
prohibitorj^ ;  there  is  not  one  "  turn-out "  now  on  the 
Cliff  House  road  where  there  were  formerly  a  dozen  ; 
and  real  estate  has  shrunk  fifty  per  cent. — if  in  some 
places  it  have  any  value  at  all. 

This  board  was  once  the  theatre  of  a  speculative  move- 
ment which  took  hold  upon  the  community  like  madness. 
The  aggregate  value  of  the  mining  stocks  on  the  list,  at 
the  period  of  highest  prices,  in  the  year  1875,  was,  in 
round  numbers,  $282,000,000.  The  aggregate  value  of 
the  same  stocks  in  the  summer  of  1881  was  but  $17,000,- 
000.  There  had  occurred  a  shrinkage  of  $265,000,000, 
or  more  than  fifteen  times  the  total  value  surviving. 

What  had  happened?  The  "bottom  had  dropped  out" 
of  the  famous  "  Comstocks,"  perhaps  the  richest  mines 
known  to  history.  "Consolidated  Virginia,"  valued  at 
$75,000,000,  was  now  worth  less  than  $1,000,000.  "  Sier- 
ra Nevada  "  fell  from  $27,000,000  to  $825,000.     But  the 


308  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

greatest  slirinkage  of  all  was  in  "  California."  This  un- 
happy stock  shrank  from  $84,000,000  to  $351,000. 

These  figures  explain  a  depression  the  vestiges  of 
which,  though  the  ruinous  crisis  has  long  passed,  still  re- 
main. The  stock-gambling  mania  possessed  the  commu- 
nity without  distinction  of  station,  and  hardly  of  age  or 
sex,  and  when  the  bnl)ble  broke  there  was  reason  enough 
for  gloom  with  all  who  had  laid  up  their  treasure  in  such 
unstable  form. 

Some  of  the  earlier  buildings,  now  flat,  thin,  and  un- 
ornamental,  were  obtained  at  expense  quite  out  of  pro- 
portion. The  stone  for  the  old  City  Hall  was  brought 
expressly  from  Australia ;  that  of  the  Wells-Fargo  build- 
ing, and  the  Union  Club,  from  China.  The  granite  of 
the  Branch  Mint,  a  fine,  classic  design,  was  dressed  in 
Oregon.  The  newer  structures  exhibit  all  the  varieties 
of  form  and  color  in  which  the  modern  decorative  taste 
delights.  The  material  for  most  is  procured  in  the  State 
itself. 

The  idea  of  being  in  a  remote  part  of  the  world  is 
kept  before  you  in  many  ways.  Here  is  a  sign  of  the 
"  New  Zealand  Insurance  Company."  Fancy  New  Zea- 
land, where  a  cannibal  population  was  lately  eating  mis- 
sionaries, sending  us  over  its  insurance  companies!  Here 
is  the  Alaska  Commercial  Company,  the  Bank  of  British 
Columbia;  and  here,  its  inscription  gilded  in  Chinese  as 
well  as  English,  the  Hong-Kong  and  Shangliai  Banking 
Company.  An  occasional  building  is  without  the  usual 
entrance-doors,  its  staircase,  in  the  comparative  mildness 
of  the  climate,  left  as  open  as  the  street. 

A  system  of  alleys  passes'among  the  colossal  structures, 
and  these  abound  in  refreshment  resorts — "  The  Dividend 
Saloon,"  "Our  Jacob,"  "The  Corastock  Exchange,"  and 
"The  New  Idea" — to  which  the  hastening:  business  men 


SAJV  FRANCISCO. 


309 


repair  in  intervals  of  their  labors.  The  San  Francisco 
boot-blacks,  a  model  to  their  class,  are  neatly  uniformed 
men  instead  of  ragged  urchins.  Favored  by  the  climate, 
they  establish  their  rows  of  easy-chairs  on  platforms  un- 
der a  canvas  awning,  have  a  newspaper  and  the  gossip 
for  you  while  you  wait,  and  somewhat  usurp  the  place 
so  long  sacred  to  the  barber. 


I,ONK    MOUNTAIN. 


The  corner  of  California  and  Montgomery  Streets  may 
be  considered  one  of  two  focal  points  in  San  Francisco; 
the  "  Lotta  Fountain  "  is  the  other. 

The  Lotta  Fountain — a  tawdry,  little,  cast-iron  affair, 
presented  to  the  city  by  the  actress  after  whom  it  is 
named — has  been  given  a  place  of  distinguished  honor. 
Five  important  streets  radiate  from   it.      Its  pedestal  is 


310         OLD  MEXICO  AXD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

a  place  where  the  timid  seek  refn2;e  when  entangled  in 
the  throng  of  vehicles.  Market  Street  extends  to  the 
Oakland  Ferry  one  way,  and  past  the  Mechanics'  Insti- 
tute and  pleasnre  resort  of  Woodward's  Garden  to  the 
distant  Mission  Hills  in  the  other.  Geary  Street  takes 
you,  by  a  "  cable  road,"  westward  to  Lone  Mountain, 
around  which  all  the  cemeteries  are  grouped,  and  Golden 
Gate  Park,  stretching  to  the  ocean.  On  the  top  of  Lone 
Mountain  stands  up  to  view  from  far  and  wide  a  dark 
cross,  which  weirdly  recalls  that  of  Calvary.  Third  Street, 
a  thoroughfare  of  working-people,  abounding  in  small  res- 
taurants, markets,  and  "tin-type"  galleries,  leads  to  the 
water  at  a  different  angle  from  Market.  Finally,  Kearney 
Street  debouches  also  at  the  Lotta  Fountain,  and  Mont- 
gomery terminates  but  a  few  steps  below. 

The  Palace  Hotel,  vast,  drab-colored,  of  iron  and  stuc- 
coed brick,  looms  up  nine  stories  in  height  on  Maiket 
Street,  and  closes  the  vista  from  Montgomery.  Studded 
with  bay-windows,  it  has  the  air  of  a  mammoth  bird-cage. 
The  San  Franciscan,  wherever  met  with,  never  fails  to 
boast  of  it  as  the  most  stupendous  thing  of  its  kind  in  the 
world.  With  the  conviction  that  size  is  not  always  the 
particular  in  which  our  hotels,  like  some  of  our  communi- 
ties, most  need  improvement,  I  should  say  that  perfection 
had  hardly  yet  been  reached. 

Within  it  is  more  satisfactory.  At  night  an  electric 
light  strikes  upon  many  tiers  of  columns,  as  white  as 
paint  can  make  them,  in  a  large  glass-roofed  court,  with 
an  effect  quite  fairy-like  and  Parisian.  Twice  a  week  a 
band  plays  there,  and  the  guests  promenade  up  and  down 
their  galleries  or  look  over  the  balustrade.  In  the  bottom 
there  are  flowers,  people  sitting  in  chairs,  and  carriages 
stand  in  a  circular,  asphalt-paved  driveway. 

Though  the  resident  of  San  Francisco  feels  called  upon 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  311 

to  coinplain  of  its  present  stagnation,  the  bare  existence 
of  such  a  place  strikes  the  new-comer  with  amazement. 

Its  air  is  not  ephemeral,  but  of  a  fine,  massive  gravity. 
Its  shops  are  filled  with  costly  goods,  its  streets  with 
comely,  beautifully  dressed  women.  It  has  an  art  and 
literature.  Private  galleries  contain  foreign  modern  pict- 
ures of  the  best  class.  Some  local  artists  have  made  for 
themselves  a  more  than  local  reputation.  There  is  a  well- 
attended  "  School  of  Design,"  which  has  already  gradu- 
ated several  pupils  whose  talent  has  been  recognized 
abroad.  The  "Mercantile  Library"  is  the  most  handsome 
and  complete  in  its  appointments  of  any  American  city. 

San  Francisco  "  society,"  though  a  trifle  bizarre  in  the 
use  of  its  newly  acquired  wealth,  has  an  under-stratum  of 
unexceptionai)le  refinement.  Its  most  bizarre  side,  too,  is 
certainly  approved  of  in  Europe,  where  its  magnates  en- 
tertain kings  and  give  their  daughters  in  marriage  to 
lofty  titles. 

The  European  traveller  who  visits  "  the  land  of  Bar- 
num  "  and  "of  Washington"  with  literary  intent  must 
be  cruelly  broken  up  by  what  he  will  find  here.  Such  a 
place  should  be  a  vast,  motley 'camp,  as  it  is  known  to 
European  travellers  that  most  American  cities  should  be. 
With  its  thirty-three  years,  and  its  heterogeneous  ele- 
ments, it  should  exhibit  a  combination  of  squalor  and 
mushroom  splendor.  The  wretched  shanty  should  elbow 
the  vulgar  palace,  a  democratic  boorishness  of  manners, 
blazing  in  diamoTids,  the  faint,  refined  natures  that  by  any 
chance  have  ventured  into  such  a  Babel.  But,  alas!  we 
live  in  an  age  of  expedition,  of  labor-saving  inventions. 
With  unlimited  ineans,  such  as  here  enjoyed,  the  work  of 
years  is  condensed  into  months.  Camp  there  is  none,  but 
a  luxurious  city,  presenting  all  the  ordinary  characteristics 
of  civilization. 


312         OLD   MEXICO   AND  llER  LOST  I'liOVINCES. 

An  association  comprising  in  a  genial  way  most  of  the 
best  elements  of  San  Francisco  is  the  Bohemian  Club.  It 
is  found  taking  a  very  creditable  interest  in  literature  and 
the  arts — it  numbering  the  professionals  and  anuiteurs  in 
these  branches  in  its  membership  —  and  entertains  and 
welcomes  distinguished  strangers.  A  monthly  entertain- 
ment of  a  light,  composite  character  is  held,  known  as  a 
"Jinks."  The  grand  festival  of  the  year,  however,  is 
a  "High  Jinks,"  which  takes  the  form  of  an  excursion 
into  the  country.  The  principal  ceremonial  of  the  High 
Jinks  has  sometimes  been  held  at  night,  in  masquerade 
costume,  among  the  Big  Trees,  the  enormous  redwoods 
of  Sonoma  County,  to  the  northward.  It  may  well  be 
believed  that  the  doings  on  these  occasions  are  as  fantas- 
tic and  amusing  as  the  merry  inventions  of  a  couple  of 
hundred  bright  social  spirits  can  make  them. 


III. 

A  population  of  three  hundred  thousand  souls  is  not 
extraordinary  now,  as  populations  go,  but  there  are  cer- 
tain things  which  make  San  Francisco  cosmopolitan  be- 
yond its  actual  size.  An  entirely  new  commercial  situa- 
tion gives  rise  to  a  new  milieu.  San  Francisco  faces 
toward  Asia,  the  great  English  -  speaking  colonies  of 
Oceanica,  and  the  islands  of  the  sea,  as  New  York  faces 
Europe.  It  enjoys  already  a  trade  with  the  Orient 
amounting  to  ten  millions  per  annum  in  imports  and 
eight  millions  in  exports.  The  possibilities  of  this  trade, 
extended  among  the  teeming  populations  in  the  cradle 
of  the  human  race,  seem  almost  limitless.  A  way  will  be 
found  sooner  or  later  out  of  the  imbroglio  into  which  our 
inexperience  has  plunged  us  on  the  Chinese  question,  and 
communication  will  flow  unimpeded.     In  countries  sepa- 


IIKill    jinks"    OV    TIIK    nOllKMIW    CI.UI!    AMONfi    THK    BIG    TREKS. 


SAiY  FRANCISCO.  315 

rated  by  water,  and  demanding  each  other's  productions, 
cities  arise  at  the  places  of  transfer,  and  jjroportioiied  to 
its  volume ;  and  for  all  this  San  Francisco  has  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  situations. 

The  Oriental  trade  is  but  a  small  item  in  the  total.  It 
has  ships,  besides  those  bound  for  the  Eastern  and  Euro- 
pean ports,  going  out  to  the  British  and  Russian  posses- 
sions in  the  North,  Mexico,  Central  and  South  Amer- 
ica, Tahiti,  Feejee,  Manila,  the  Sandwich  and  Friendly 
Islands — to  all  those  far-off  points  in  the  South  Pacific 
which  now  in  their  turn  promise  to  shine  with  the  light 
of  civilization  and  become  powers  of  the  earth. 

Coals  are  burned  at  firesides — not  of  the  most  desira- 
ble quality,  it  must  be  confessed — which  come  from  the 
coast  once  characterized  by  the  poet  in  the  line — 

"The  wolfs  long  howl  on  Oonalaska's  shore." 

Seventy  millions  pounds  of  sugar  a  year  are  brought  from 
those  Sandwich  Islands  which  slew  Captain  Cook,  now  a 
civilized,  modern  state.  But  it  is  particularly  Australa- 
sia, and  our  coming  relations  with  it,  that  awaken  admir- 
ing speculations.  Melbourne,  Australia,  has  already  more 
than  280,000  people,  Sydney  225,000,  while  along  the 
coasts  of  that  once  cannibal  New  Zealand,  now  sending 
us  its  insurance  companies,  scatter  also  a  line  of  flour- 
ishing cities:  Dunedin,  with  its  43,000  people;  Auckland, 
with  40,000;  Christchurch,  32,000;  Wellington,  22,000; 
and  I  know  not  how  many  others. 

Astoria  and  Portland,  in  Oregon,  San  Diego,  and,  no 
doubt,  ports  to  be  created  in  time  along  the  Mexican 
shores,  will  receive  a  share  of  these  new  influences  in 
the  world,  but  at  San  Francisco  they  touch  us  first  and 
nearest. 

There  is  a  definite  fascination  in  coming  to  the  ''jump- 


316  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

in<^-ofI  place,"  tlic  final  verge  of  the  latest  of  the  conti- 
nents. An  excellent  situation  in  which  to  feel  it  is  to  lie 
on  the  brown  heather  at  the  point  above  the  Golden  Gate 
— though  it  is  a  raw  and  gusty  place  in  which  to  lie  too 
long — or  to  look  down  from  the  parapeted  road  or  piazza 
of  the  Cliff  House. 

Here  practically  nothing  intervenes  between  you  and 
Japan,  except  we  make  mention  of  the  clump  of  Seal 
Kocks,  upon  which  the  grouty  sea-lions  are  floundering 
and  roaring,  down  there  in  the  surf  in  front. 

"  Ah  !  when  a  man  has  travelled,"  says  Thoreau,  "when 
he  has  robbed  the  horizon  of  his  native  fields  of  its  mj^s- 
tery,  tarnished  the  blue  of  distant  mountains  with  his  feet, 
he  may  begin  to  think  of  another  world." 

Yery  well.  Perhaps  it  may  do  a  man  no  harm  to  think 
of  another  world  now  and  then,  if  not  upon  one  pretext, 
on  another.  At  evening  the  Golden  Gate  is  the  way  to 
the  sunset.  The  orb  of  day  settles  into  the  sea  at  the 
end  of  the  gleaming  strait,  precisely  in  that  East  where 
we  always  figure  it  to  ourselves  as  rising  in  the  morning. 
The  great  circle  is  at  last  complete ;  and,  as  the  extremes 
of  every  kind,  even  of  love  and  hate,  are  said  to  be  iden- 
tical, the  old,  quiescent  East  has  become  the  bound  of  the 
new,  impetuous  West. 

"What  is  a  world  to  do,"  you  idly  ask,  "  when  it  has  no 
longer  a  West?  How  is  it  to  get  on  without  that  vague 
open  region  on  its  borders,  always  the  safe t}''- valve  and 
outlet  for  surplus  population  and  uneasy  spirits?" 

"But  when  the  race  has  quite  arrived  at  this  farther 
shore,  will  it  stop  here?  or  will  it  possibly  start  round 
the  world  again  ?  Will  it  go  on  yet  many  times  more, 
always  beginning  with  the  highest  perfection  yet  at- 
tained, weaker  types  dying  out  in  front  to  make  room, 
till  it  shall  become  in  its  march  a  dazzling  army  of  light? 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  319 

Is  a  millennium,  perchance,  to  be  reached  in  this  cumu- 
lative way,  as  the  power  of  a  magnet  is  increased  by  the 
number  of  turns  of  the  helix  ?" 

"The  sentiment  of  gain,"  I  say,  continuing  these  wise 
speculations,  "has  been  the  leading  factor  in  drawing  the 
nations  around  the  globe.  Gold  has  been  dangled  as  a 
bait:  first,  the  hope  of  it  by  conquest;  later,  in  mines  of 
the  precious  metals.  It  has  danced,  Ariel-like,  will-o'-the- 
wisp- like,  before  them.  Tantalized,  disappointed,  after 
floundering  on  a  ways,  they  have  paused  to  develop  the 
lauds  upon  which  they  found  themselves. 

"  But  now  at  length,  when  the  vacant  spaces  are  full, 
and  the  need  of  subterfuge  exhausted,  the  bait  is  cast 
down,  to  be  gorged  upon  by  those  who  find  it.  Never 
before,  till  '49,  were  its  followers  rewarded  with  such  un- 
stinted liberality.  The  treasure  of  the  earth  seemed  piled 
up  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  far  Pacific." 

I  recall  that  their  yield  since  the  year  1848  has  reached 
the  sum  of  $2,100,000,000,  and  is  still  going  on  at 
$80,000,000  a  year.  Gold,  scattered  at  first  in  the  very 
sands,  was  later  washed  out  of  the  gravel-banks,  by  the  hy- 
draulic process,  and  later  yet  got  by  crushing  the  quartz 
rock.  When  gold  began  to  diminish  it  was  followed  by 
silver.  The  great  "  Bonanza "  mines  of  Nevada  were 
discovered.  "Consolidated  Virginia"  alone  produced 
$65,000,000  in  seven  years. 

IV. 

What  fabulous  sums  besides — to  go  back  to  town — the 
managers  made  by  the  ingenious  process  of  "  milking  the 
market"  I  do  not  undertake  to  compute.  The  prices  of 
this  celebrated  stock  at  successive  dates,  not  far  apart, 
were:  first,  $17  a  share;  then  $1 ;  $110;  $42;  $700;  and 
then,  in  the  final  collapse,  in  1875,  little  or  nothing  at  all. 


320         OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

I  liavG  seen  a  poor  saloon  called  the  "Auction  Lunch," 
on  Washington  Street,  near  the  Post-ofKce,  said  to  have 
been  kept  by  the  once  barkeepers,  Flood  and  O'Brien, 
who  attained  such  a  splendid  prosperity.  There  is  no 
historic  tablet  over  the  door,  but  one  naturally  looks  with 
reverence  at  the  place  where  the  beginning  of  such  things 
could  be.  The  proprietors  of  the  "Auction  Lunch"  were 
in  the  habit  of  taking  gold-dust  occasionally  in  a  friendly 
way  from  miners,  for  safe-keeping  while  the  owners  were 
enjoying  themselves  about  town.  It  was  from  such  per- 
sons that  they  obtained  the  "  points  "  which  resulted  in 
their  getting  possession  first  of  "  Hale  and  Norcross,"  and 
then  of  the  greater  part  of  the  properties  of  the  Com- 
stock  lode. 

I  fell  in  with  a  professed  friend  of  theirs  of  early  times, 
whose  fortunes  had  not  mended  at  all  at  the  same  pace. 
He  descanted  on  the  inequalities  of  fate,  and  what  he 
termed  "bull-dog"  luck. 

lie  could  prove  that  Flood  and  O'Brien  were  not  even 
good  business  men — "though  Jimmy  Flood  does  go  about 
with  a  wise  air,"  he  said,  "and  Bill}'  O'Brien  left,  at  his 
death,  half  a  million  dollars  to  each  of  eight  or  ten  nieces." 

There  is  hardly  a  limit  to  the  exceptional  characters 
and  exceptional  doings  to  be  heard  of  in  San  Francisco. 
Though  the  city  affect— or  has  been  driven  into — a  quies- 
cent air  now,  it  has  hardly  ever  done  anj'thing  like  any 
other  place.  It  began  with  the  wild  Argonauts  of  '49, 
whom  Bret  Ilarte  has  so  strikingly  portrayed.  It  had 
had  six  great  fires,  which  destroyed  property  to  the 
amount  of  $23,000,000,  when  yet  less  than  three  years  of 
age.  It  was  ruled  for  months,  in  the  3'ear  1856,  by  a  vig- 
ilance committee,  which  rid  it  of  eight  hundred  evil-doers 
of  one  sort  and  another,  the  worst  by  summary  execution, 
the  rest  by  banishment. 


SAJ^  FRANCISCO.  321 

The  polities  of  tlic  State  before  tlie  war  were  Demo- 
cratic, witli  a  rather  strong  Southern  bias.  There  was  a 
long  feud  between  the  two  great  Senatorial  paladins, 
Broderick  and  Gvvin,  which  resulted  in  the  death  of 
Broderick  by  the  duelling-pistol  of  one  of  the  partisans 
of  the  latter.  There  was  the  long  fight  and  a  final  deliv- 
erance from  an  incubus  of  forged  Spanish  land  titles,  the 
manufacture  of  which  "  had  become  a  business  and  a 
trade,"  and  which  covered  the  area  of  the  city  many 
times  over.  Then  came  the  war,  and  the  peculiarities 
growing  out  of  the  retention  of  a  solid  currency,  wdiile 
the  rest  of  the  country  was  deluged  with  a  depreciated 
paper. 

The  brilliant  period,  later,  when  the  Bonanza  mines 
were  pouring  out  their  floods  of  riches,  and  the  favorite 
stocks  were  running  delightfully  up  and  down  the  gamut 
from  $1  to  $700  a  share,  was  followed,  as  I  have  said,  by 
a  depression  of  the  deepest  dye.  In  the  unbearable  dis- 
appointment of  their  losses,  and  the  stagnation  of  trade, 
a  part  of  the  community  snatched  at  a  theory  held  out 
to  them  by  demagogues,  that  it  was  their  political  institu- 
tions which  were  somehow  to  blame.  Upon  this  basis  a 
singular  new  party,  wild  and  half-communistic  in  charac- 
ter, arose,  and  met  with  a  brief  success.  The  truckman, 
Denis  Kearney,  was  its  Caius  Gracchus  or  Watt  Tyler, 
and  set  it  in  motion  with  blasphemous  mouthings  from 
an  improvised  tribune  in  the  Sand-lots.  It  elected  a 
mayor  who  was  at  the  same  time  a  Baptist  preacher. 
This  mayor's  son — preacher,  too-^rode  up  one  day  and 
assassinated  at  his  own  door  an  editor  who  had  passed 
strictures  on  their  course.  The  party  voted  a  new  con- 
stitution, which  was  thought  to  be  a  ])relude  to  universal 
confiscation,  and  capitalists  fled  before  it  in  alarm. 

And,  finally,  this  remarkal)le  city,  having  become  the 

14-x- 


322  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

recipient  of  a  Chinese  immigration  wliieli  has  given  to  a 
part  of  it  the  aspect  of  a  portion  of  the  Flowerj  Kingdom, 
has  been  agitated  by  fears  of  complete  subversion  under 
Orientalism,  and  has  originated  new  problems  for  politi- 
cal economy  and  international  law. 

After  but  a  tithe  of  such  violent  and  novel  experiences 
any  city  would  be  glad  to  rest  awhile.  San  Francisco 
seems  entering  upon  a  new  period,  and  likely  to  do  things 
henceforth  more  in  the  normal  way.  There  has  been  a 
time  of  contemplation,  and  the  lessons  of  the  past  have 
struck  in.  As  things  have  slowly  improved  the  gloom  of 
the  reaction  has  disappeared  after  the  unhealthy  inflation 
that  gave  it  birth.  The  new  political  craze  was  of  but 
short  duration.  I  never  saw  anywhere  so  quietly  con- 
ducted an  election  as  that  of  the  last  autumn,  which 
dismissed  the  Kearney-Kalloch  faction  from  power.  A 
special  provision  prevents  the  approach  of  any  person  but 
the  voter  immediately  engaged  within  one  hundred  feet 
of  a  polling-place.  I  had  rather  expected  to  see  dead  and 
maimed  Chinamen  lying  at  every  corner,  or  fleeing  before 
infuriated  crowds.  But  though  San  Franciscans  enter- 
tain beliefs  of  their  own  as  to  the  undesirability  of  a 
great  Chinese  immigration,  during  a  long  stay  I  neither 
saw  nor  heard  of  an  attempt  to  molest  any  individual  on 
account  of  it. 

The  new  constitution  itself  proved  a  harmless  bugaboo. 
It  is  a  gratifying  tribute,  in  fact,  to  native  common-sense 
and  Anglo-Saxon  ideas  that  this  instrument,  produced  in 
a  time  of  great  excitement,  and,  as  was  charged,  with  the 
most  subversive  intentions,  should  not  only  contain  so  lit- 
tle that  is  dangerous,  but  so  much  in  a  high  degree  com- 
mendable. It  does  not  harm  property.  Frightened  cap- 
ital may  return  with  entire  safety.  I  profess  myself  so 
far  a  person  of  incendiary  opinions  as  to  hold  that  an 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  323 

lionest  directness  of  purpose  in  tin's  new  constitution,  its 
effort  to  simplify  legislation  and  sweep  away  embarrass- 
ments, often  maintained  much  more  in  the  interest  of  leg- 
islator and  lawyer  than  the  public  good,  is  well  worthy  of 
imitation  elsewhere. 

Physical  and  commercial  conditions  are  also  changing. 
Life  hereafter  will  depend  less  upon  spasmodic  "  finds," 
and  more  on  the  humdrum  and  legitimate  industries. 
Mining,  though  the  supply  of  treasure,  with  improved 
machinery,  still  holds  out  in  a  uniform  way,  takes  a  less- 
er rank.  Agriculture  and  manufactures  come  eveiy 
day  more  to  the  front.  California  produces  an  annual 
wheat  crop  of  $50,000,000,  a  wool  crop  of  $10,000,000, 
wines  to  the  amount  of  $4,000,000,  and  fruits  worth  as 
much  more,  though  these  last  two  branches  are  but  in 
their  infancy.  Of  the  greater  part  of  all  this  San  Fran- 
cisco is  the  entrepot. 

The  smoke  of  the  soft  coals  of  Alaska,  Oregon,  and 
Australia  too  may  be  allowed  to  thicken  the  air  to  some 
purpose,  since  it  produces  manufactures  to  the  amount  of 
$75,000,000  per  annum. 


324         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


XXIII. 

SAN  FRANCISCO  {Continued). 
I. 

Kearney  Street  (shaving  its  distinction  now  with 
Market  Street)  is,  in  sunshiny  weather,  the  promenade 
of  all  tlie  leisurely  and  well-dressed.  It  abounds  in  jew- 
ellers, who  often  combine  tlie  business  of  pawnbroking 
with  the  other,  and  are  fond  of  prefixing  "Uncle"  to 
their  names.  Thus,  "Uncle  Johnson,"  "  Uncle  Jackson," 
or  "  Uncle  Thompson,"  all  along  the  way,  make  a  genial 
proffer  of  their  hospitable  service.  There  are  shops  of 
Cliinese  and  Japanese  goods,  though  this  is  not  the  reg- 
ular quarter,  and  "AssiamuU'and  Wassiamull"  invite  us 
to  inspect  the  goods  of  the  East  Indies. 

Perhaps  European  foreigners  of  distinction — English 
lords,  M.P.'s,  and  younger  sons,  German  barons  and  Kus- 
sian  princes — on  their  way  round  the  world,  are  not  more 
numerous  than  in  New  York,  but  they  seem  more  nu- 
merous in  proportion.  The  books  of  the  Palace  Hotel 
are  seldom  free  of  them,  and  they  are  detected,  at  a 
glance,  strolling  on  the  streets  or  gazing  at  the  large 
photographs  of  the  Yosemite  Valley  and  the  Big  Trees 
which  hang  at  prominent  corners. 

There  is  a  genial  feeling  about  Kearney  Street,  which 
arises,  I  think,  from  its  being  level — at  the  foot  of  the 
steep  hills.  The  temptation  is  to  linger  there  as  long  as 
possible.     The  instant  you  leave  it  for  the  residence  por- 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  325 

tion  of  town  you  have  to  begin  a  back-breaking  climb. 
The  ascent  is  like  going  np-stairs,  and  nothing  less. 

The  San  Francisco  householder  of  means  is  "like  the 
herald  Mercury  new-lighted  on  a  heaven-kissing  hill." 
How  in  the  world,  I  have  asked,  does  he  get  up  there? 
Well,  by  the  Cable  road.  I  consider  the  Cable  road  one 
of  the  very  foremost  in  the  list  of  curiosities,  though  I 
have  refrained  from  bringing  it  forward  till  now.  It  is  a 
peculiar  kind  of  tramwa}^,  useful  also  on  a  level,  but  in- 
vented for  the  purpose  of  overcoming  steep  elevations. 

Two  cars,  coupled,  are  seen  moving,  at  a  high  rate  of 
speed,  without  jar  and  in  perfect  safety,  up  and  down  all 
these  extraordinary  undulations  of  ground.  There  is  no 
horse,  no  steam,  no  vestige  of  machinery,  no  ostensible 
means  of  locomotion  of  any  kind.  The  astonished  com- 
ment of  the  Chinaman,  observing  this  marvel  for  the  first 
time,  may  be  worth  repeating  once  more,  old  as  it  is: 

"  Melican  man''s  wagon,  no  pusliee,  no  pullee ;  go  top- 
side hill  like  flashee." 

The  solution  of  the  mystery  is  an  endless  wire  cable 
hidden  in  a  box  in  the  road-bed,  and  turning  over  a  great 
wheel  in  an  engine-house  at  the  top  of  tlie  hill.  The  fore- 
most of  the  two  cars  is  provided  with  a  grip,  or  pincers, 
running  underneath  in  a  continuous  crevice  in  the  box 
with  the  cable.  When  the  conductor  wishes  to  go  on  he 
clutches  with  his  grip  the  cable;  wlien  he  wishes  to  stop 
he  lets  go  and  puts  on  a  brake.  There  is  no  snow  and 
ice  to  clog  the  central  crevice,  which,  by  the  necessities  of 
the  case,  must  be  open.  The  system  has  been  applied, 
however,  with  emendations,  in  Chicago,  and  is  about  to 
be  on  the  great  Brooklyn  Bridge,  at  New  York. 

The  great  houses  on  the  hill,  like  almost  all  the  resi- 
dences of  the  cit}'-,  are  of  wood.  It  seems  a  pity,  consid- 
ering the   money  spent,  tliat  this  should   be  so.      It  is 


82()         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

attributed  to  the  superior  warmth  and  dryness  of  wood 
in  so  moist  and  cool  a  climate,  and  also  to  its  security 
against  the  shock  of  earthquakes.  Whatever  be  the  rea- 
son, the  San  Francisco  Crcesuses  have  reared  for  them- 
selves palaces  which  might  be  swept  off  at  a  breath  and 
leave  no  trace  of  their  existence.  Their  architecture  has 
nothing  to  commend  it  to  favor.  They  are  large,  rather 
over-ornate,  and  of  no  particular  style. 

The  Hopkins  residence — a  costly  Gothic  chateau,  car- 
ried out  also  in  wood — may  be  excepted  from  tliis  descrip- 
tion. The  basement  stories,  however,  are  of  stone,  and 
there  is  enough  work  in  tiiese  and  foundations  to  build 
many  a  first-class  Eastern  mansion.  To  prepare  sites  for 
habitations  on  the  steep  hills  has  been  an  enormous  labor 
and  expense.  The  part  played  by  retaining- walls,  ter- 
races, and  staircases  is  extraordinary.  The  merest  wood- 
en cottage  is  often  prefaced  by  works  which  outweigh  its 
own  importance  a  dozen  to  one. 

When  a  peerage  is  drawn  np  for  San  Francisco,  the 
grader  will  follow  in  rank  the  railroad-builder  and  the 
miner.  To  hardly  anybody  else  has  such  an  amount  of 
lucrative  employment  been  open.  What  a  cutting  and 
filling!  what  gravelling  and  paving! 

Striking  freaks  of  surface  and  arrangement  result. 
The  city  might  have  been  terraced  up,  like  Genoa,  or 
Naples  above  the  Chiaja.  It  is  picturesque  still,  in  the 
thin,  American  way,  through  the  absolute  force  of  cir- 
cumstances. You  enter  the  retaining-walls  of  stone  or 
plank  through  door-ways  or  grated  archways  like  the 
postern-gates  of  castles.  You  pass  up  stone  steps  in  tun- 
nels or  vine-covered  arbors  within  these ;  or  zio^zag  from 
landing  to  landing  of  long,  wooden  stairways,  without. 
Odd  little  terrace  streets  and  "  places,"  as  Charles  Place, 
with  bits  of  gardens,  are  found  sandwiclied  between  tlie 


SAN  FRANCISCO. 


327 


regular  formation.  A  wide  thoroughfare,  Second  Street 
— cut  throuirh  liincon  Hill,  the  Nob  Hill  of  a  former  day, 
to  afford  access  to  water  for  vehicles — has  been  the  oc- 
casion of  leaving  isolated,  high  and  dry,  some  few  old 
houses,  with  cypress-trees  about  them,  approached  by 
wooden  staircases  almost  interminable.  Dark  at  sunset 
against  a  red  sky,  for  instance,  they  present  effects  to 
delight  the  heart  of  an  etcher. 


fA 


/ 


HIGH-GRADE   EESIDENCKS. 


In  this  line,  however,  nothing  is  equal  to  Telegraph 
Hill,  which  bristles  with  the  make-shift  contrivances  of  a 
much  humbler  population.  Bret  Harte  lived  there  at 
one  time,  and  asserts  that  the  goats  used  to  browse  on  his 
pots  of  geranium  in  the  second-story  windows.  They 
also  pranced  on  the  roof  at  night  in  such  a  way  that  a 
new-comer  thought  there  had  been  a  fine  thunder-storm. 
Elsewhere,  instead  of  precipices,  you  meet  with  chasms. 


328  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Looking  down  from  the  roadway,  you  will  see  some  poor 
figure  of  a  woman  sewing  in  a  bay-window  which  was 
once  filled  with  air  and  sunshine,  but  now  commands 
only  a  patch  of  mildewed  wall. 

The  views  from  the  hills  are  of  no  common  order. 
As  you  rise  on  tlie  Cable  road  you  hang  in  the  air  above 
the  body  of  the  city,  and  above  the  harbor  and  its  envi- 
ronment. The  Clay  Street  road,  one  of  the  steepest, 
passes  through  the  Chinese  quarter.  Half-way  up  an 
ensign,  of  a  blue-and -crimson  dragon  on  an  orange 
field,  on  the  Ciiinese  Consulate-general,  flies,  a  bright  bit 
of  color  in  the  foreground.  The  bay,  far  below  the  eye, 
has  an  opaque  look.  On  some  i-are  days  it  is  very  blue 
in  color,  but  oftener  it  is  of  slate  or  greenish  gray.  Pass- 
ing vessels  criss-cross  their  wakes  in  white  upon  the 
green  like  pencils  on  a  slate. 

The  atmosphere  above  it  is  rarely  clear.  Some  lurking 
wisp  of  fog  at  best  is  generally  stealing  in  at  the  Golden 
Gate,  or  under  dark  Tamalpais,  watching  to  rush  over 
and  seize  upon  the  city.  An  obscurity,  part  of  fog  and 
part  of  smoke,  hovers  in  areas,  now  enveloping  only  the 
town,  again  the  prospect,  so  that  nothing  can  be  seen, 
though  the  town  itself  be  free.  Now  it  lifts  momentari- 
ly from  the  horizon  for  glimpses  of  distant  islands  and 
cities,  and  the  peak  of  Mount  Diablo,  thirty  miles  away, 
and  shuts  down  as  suddenly  as  if  these  were  but  figments 
of  a  vision. 

The  view  down  upon  the  lights  at  night  is  particularly 
striking.  Set  in  constellations,  or  radiating  in  formal 
lines,  they  are  like  the  bivouac  of  a  great  army.  It 
might  be  the  hosts  of  Armageddon  were  encamped 
round  about  awaiting  the  dawn.  For  several  days,  from 
California  Street  Hill,  there  was  the  spectacle  of  a  devas- 
t.iting  fire  in  the  woods  of  Mount  Tamalpais.     Its  dark 


SAN^  FRANCISCO.  329 

smoke  rendered  the  sunsets  lurid  and  ominous,  and  at 
nigiit  tiie  burning  mountain,  reflected  in  the  bay,  was  a 
more  terrible  Vesuvius  or  Ileela. 


II. 

One  is  hardly  supposed  to  "travel"  as  yet  in  America 
as  in  Europe.  We  make  our  journeys  here  for  definite 
objects,  ciiiefly  on  business.  No  doubt,  if  we  could  bring 
ourselves  to  the  same  receptive  frame  of  mind,  the  same 
readiness  to  be  amused  by  odds-and-ends  of  experience, 
a  good  deal  the  same  kind  of  pleasure  could  be  got  out 
of  it  as  there.  San  Francisco  at  least  appears  to  afford 
a  few  of  exactly  the  same  details  which  receive  the  atten- 
tion of  the  leisurely  abroad. 

Italian  fishermen  eat  macaroni,  and  drink  red  wine, 
and  wait  upon  the  tides,  about  the  vicinity  of  Broadway 
and  Front  Streets.  The  Italian  colony,  for  the  rest,  is 
pretty  numerous.  The  part  that  remains  on  shore  is 
chiefly  composed  of  grocers,  butchers,  and  restaurateurs. 
Chinese  shrimp- catchers  are  found  in  the  cove  at  Po- 
trero,  behind  the  large  new  manufacturing  buildings  of 
that  quarter,  and  again  at  San  Bruno  Point,  twelve 
miles  down  the  bay.  Their  boats  and  junks  are  not 
on  a  large  scale,  but  display  the  usual  peculiarities  of 
their  nautical  architecture. 

The  French  colony  is  also  nutnerons,  and  the  language 
heard  continually  on  the  street.  Taking  advantage  of 
the  variety  and  excellence  of  supplies  in  the  markets, 
French  restaurants  furnish  repasts  —  including  a  half- 
bottle  of  wine  of  the  country — of  extraordinary  cheap- 
ness. A  considerable  Mexican  and  Spanish  contingent 
mingles  also  wnth  the  Italians,  along  Upper  Dupont, 
Yallejo,  and  Green  Streets.     Shops  with  such  titles  as 


330  OLD  MEXICO   A XI)   HER    LOST  PROVIXCES. 

Jji  Sorirrcsa  ;ui<l  the  Th")}<la  Mexicana  adjoin  the  Unitd 
(T Italia  and  the  Uoiua  saloon.  A  Mexican  militia  com- 
pany turns  out,  under  the  green,  white,  and  red  tricolor, 
on  every  anniversary  of  the  national  independence,  the 
IGth  of  September.  During  the  Carnival  season  a  form 
of  entertainment  known  as  "  Cascarone  parties  "  prevails 
among  the  Spanish  residents.  The  participants  pelt  one 
another  with  egg-shells  filled  with  gilt  and  colored  pa- 
pers. Sometimes  a  canvas  fort  is  ei-ected  in  the  street, 
and  attacked  and  defended  by  means  of  these  missiles 
and  liandfuls  of  flour.  Such  Spanish  life  as  there  is  can 
hardly  be  said  to  have  remained  from  the  early  days, 
since  the  Spanish  settlement  at  best  was  infinitesimal.  It 
has  been  attracted  here  in  the  mean  time  like  other  im- 
migration. A  dusky  mother,  smoking  a  cigarette,  in  a 
hammock,  in  a  palm-thatched  hut,  on  the  Acapulco  trail, 
told  me  of  a  son  who  had  gone  to  San  Francisco  twenty 
years  before  and  become  a  carpenter  there.  He  had  for- 
gotten now,  she  heard,  even  how  to  speak  liis  native 
language. 

The  Latin  race  seems  to  have  been  especially  attracted 
to  the  country  of  a  mild  climate  and  original  traditions 
like  their  own.  But  German  and  Scandinavian  names 
too  on  the  sign-boards — Russian  Ivanovich  and  Abramo- 
vich,  and  Hungarian  Haraszthy — show  that  no  one  blood 
or  influence  has  exclusive  sway.  There  appears  to  be 
an  unusually  free  intermingling  and  giving  in  marriage 
among  these  various  components.  They  are  less  clannish 
than  with  us.  Lady  Wortley  Montagu  remarked,  at  Con- 
stantinople, some  hundred  years  ago,  a  similar  fusion, 
and  believed  it  a  reason  for  a  debased  and  mongrel  race. 
But  a  very  different  class  of  blood  mingles  here  from 
that  of  Orientals  at  Constantinople.  Our  much  more 
cheerful  theory  is,  that  we  are  to  combine  the  best  qual- 


SAN  FRANCISCO. 


331 


332         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 

itics,  the  liardiliood  and  good  looks  of  all,  while  eliminat- 
ing their  defects.  Certainly  the  bright,  intelligent  aspect 
of  the  children  of  San  Francisco  does  nothing  as  yet  to 
discredit  snch  a  theor}'. 

Such  vestiges  of  '49  as  yet  remain  are  extremely  few. 
I  confess  to  surprise  as  well  at  the  slightness  of  the  his- 
toric records  at  the  Pioneer  Society.  I  make  little  donht 
that  they  could  be  easily  paralleled  in  many  other  libra- 
ries of  the  counti-y.  "  North  Beach,"  under  Telegra})h 
Hill,  may  be  visited  both  for  its  memories  and  present 
aspect  of  picturesque  ruin.  It  is  where  the  pioneer  ships 
landed.  Hence,  also,  the  ill-fated  Ralston  swam  out  into 
the  bay,  and  here  are  the  remains  of  "Harry  Meigs's 
Wharf."  Harry  Meigs  was  a  famous  prototype  of 
Ralston's  in  the  Fifties.  Defeated  in  brilliant  financial 
schemes,  and  having  endeavored  to  save  his  defeat  by 
forgery,  he  was  obliged  to  take  flight.  He  chartered  a 
schooner  to  take  him  to  the  South  Sea  Islands,  which  lay 
off  the  wharf  for  him  at  midnight. 

"  This  is  hell,"  he  is  reported  to  have  said  as  he 
stepped  on  board,  expressing  thus  his  Lucifer-like  sense 
of  humiliation  and  downfall. 

He  did  not  remain  long  at  the  South  Sea  Islands,  but 
sailed  for  Peru.  There  he  began  the  world  again,  built 
all  the  railway's  of  that  republic,  became  a  great  niillion- 
naire,  sent  back  and  paid  all  his  debts,  and  was  divested, 
by  act  of  Legislature,  so  far  as  legislation  could  do  it,  of 
the  stigma  of  his  crimes.  His  story  is  by  no  means  a 
good  one  to  hold  np  to  the  emulation  of  youth,  but  it  is 
romantic,  and  in  some  sense  characteristic  of  California. 

The  blackened  old  pier  is  a  dumping -place  for  city 
refuse  now,  and  swarms  of  chiffoniers  gather  around  it 
to  pick  out  such  scraps  of  value  as  they  may  before  they 
are  washed  away  by  the  dailj^  tides. 


S.LV  FJLiNCISCO.  333 

The  leadiiif^  streets  of  San  Fiaiic-Isco  commemorate  the 
})ioneers  of  State  or  phice.  A  newer  series  adopts  the 
names  of  the  States  of  tlie  Union,  and  simple  numbers, 
which  are  carried  ah'eadj  to  Forty-fiftli,  for  avenues,  and 
'I'liirtieth  for  streets.  Tlie  fast-growing,  tough,  fragrant, 
hut  scrawny,  eucalyptus  is  much  in  use  as  a  shade-tree, 
hi  the  door-yards  grow  cypresses,  the  Spanish-bayonet, 
and  the  ordinary  flowers,  needing  a  great  deal  of  sprink- 
ling to  keep  them  in  good  order. 

The  San  Francisco  school  of  writers,  developed  in  tlie 
successful  days  of  the  Overland  Monthly^  have  not  made 
much  use  of  the  eity  itself  in  their  literature.  Bret  Ilarte 
confined  his  local  range  to  the  doings  of  certain  small 
boys,  some  "  Sidewalkings,"  and  the  disagreeable  features 
of  the  climate,  in  "Neighborhoods  I  Have  Moved  From." 
It  was  from  Folsom  Street  that  the  adventurous  Master 
Charles  Summerton,  aged  five,  set  out  for  his  great  expe- 
dition to  Van  Dieman's  Land,  by  way  of  the  Second  and 
Market  Street  cars.  I  had  occasion  to  visit  Fols(;m  Street 
gonietimes,  and  even  this  sliglit  incident — such  is  the  po- 
tency of  the  litei'ary  touch — has  given  it  a  genial  interest 
which  many  others,  as  good  in  appearance,  and  even 
stately  Van  Ness  Avenue,  on  the  other  side  of  town — 
very  much  better — by  no  means  share. 


III. 

San  Francisco  offers,  in  my  view,  the  advantage  of 
saving  a  trip  around  the  world.  Whoever,  having  seen 
Europe,  shrinks  from  farther  wanderings  may  derive  here 
from  a  compact  Chinese  city  of  30,000  souls  such  an  idea 
of  the  life  and  doings  of  the  Celestial  Empire  as  may 
appease  curiosity  and  take  the  place  of  a  voyage  to  the 
Orient. 


334:         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVLXCES. 

The  Chinese  iiiiniignuits,  it  is  ti-ne,  rarely  erect  build- 
ings of  their  own,  but  fit  themselves  to  what  they  find. 
They  fit  themselves  in  with  all  their  peculiar  industries, 
their  smells  of  tobacco  and  cooking-oil,  their  red  and  yel- 
low signs  and  hand-bills,  opium  pipes,  high-soled  slippers, 
sticks  of  India  ink,  silver  pins,  and  packets  of  face-pow- 
der, their  fruits  and  fish,  theii"  curious  groceries  and  more 
curious  butcher's  meat — they  have  fitted  all  this  into  the 
Yankee  buildings,  and  taken  such  absolute  possession  that 
we  are  no  longer  in  America,  but  Shanghai  or  Hong- 
Kong.  The  restaurants  make  the  nearest  approach  to  the 
national  fa9ades,  but  this  is  brought  about  by  adding 
highly-decorated  balconies,  lanterns,  and  inscriptions,  and 
not  building  outright. 

I  had  the  curiosity  to  try  one  of  the  best  of  the  restau- 
rants— quite  a  gorgeous  affair,  at  the  head  of  Commercial 
Street — and  found  the  fare  both  neatly  served  and  pala- 
table. There  was  a  certain  monotony  in  the  bill,  which  I 
ascribed  to  a  desire  to  give  us  dishes  as  near  the  Amer- 
ican style  as  possible.  We  had  chicken-soup,  with  flour 
paste  resembling  macaroni;  a  very  tender  chicken,  sliced, 
thi'ough  bones  and  all,  in  a  bowl;  a  bowl  of  duck;  a  pew- 
ter chafing-dish  of  quail  with  spinach.  All  the  food  is  set 
out.  in  bowls,  and  each  helps  himself,  with  ebony  chop- 
sticks, to  such  morsels  as  he  desires.  The  chopsticks,  held 
in  the  fingers  of  the  right  hand,  somewhat  after  the  man- 
ner of  castanets,  are  about  as  convenient  to  the  novice  as 
a  pair  of  lead-pencils.  We  drank  sahi,  or  rice  brandy,  in 
infinitesimal  cups,  during  the  dinner,  and  at  dessert  very 
fine  tea. 

The  upper  story  of  these  places  is  reserved  for  guests 
of  the  better  class.  Those  of  slender  purses  are  accom- 
modated below.  To  these  is  served  a  second  drawing  of 
the  same  tea  which  has  been  used,  and  such  meats  as  re- 


CHINESE   QUARTER,  SAN    FRANCISCO. 


SAiV  FRANCISCO. 


337 


main  in  a  tolerable  state.  The  upper  story  is  decorated 
with  carved  work,  painted  scarlet,  and  heavily  gilded,  and 
screens,  lanterns,  and  teak- wood  tables  and  stools;  while 
below  pine-wood  tables  are  deemed  good  enough. 


A    BALCONY    IN    THE    CHINESE    QUARTER. 


Dropping  in  late  one  evening  for  a  cup  of  tea,  I  had 
the  fortune  to  witness  a  supper-party — a  novel,  genre  pic- 
ture, glowing  with  color.  There  were  a  dozen  dignified- 
looking  men,  dressed  in  handsome  silk  clothing — black, 
blue,  and  purple.  With  them  were  as  many  women — 
young,  slender,  and  pretty,  of  their  type,  while  the  women 
seen  walking  about  the  streets  are  very  coarse  and  clumsy. 

15 


338         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Their  black  hair  was  carefully  smoothed,  and  looped  up 
with  silver  pins,  and  their  complexions  were  daintily  made 
of  pink  and  white  and  vermilion,  realizing  exactly  the 
heads  painted  on  their  silken  fans.  The  most  interesting 
girl  was  of  Fellah  or  Hebrew  aspect,  and  was  probably 
not  without  an  admixture  of  other  blood  in  her  veins. 
The  men  occupied  carved  teak- wood  stools  about  a  large 
table,  spread  with  a  w^hite  cloth,  and  covered  with  charm- 
ing china.  The  women  stood  by  and  served  them.  JS^ow 
and  then  one  of  the  latter  rested  momentarily  on  a  corner 
of  a  stool,  in  a  laughing  way,  and  took  a  morsel  also.  The 
whole  was  a  bit  of  bright  Chinoiserie  worth  a  long  jour- 
ney to  witness. 

They  were  very  merry,  and  played,  among  other  amuse- 
ments, a  game  like  the  Italian  mora.  In  this  one  would 
hold  up  fingers  in  rapid  succession,  while  the  others 
shouted  the  probable  number  at  the  tops  of  their  voices. 
What  with  this,  their  laughter,  drumming  on  the  table, 
and  general  hubbub,  besides  an  orchestra  of  their  peculiar 
music  adding  its  din  from  behind  a  screen,  they  were  not 
very  unlike  a  party  of  Parisian  canotiers  and  gi'isettes 
supping  at  Bougival. 

The  temple  and  the  theatre  of  the  Chinese  emigrant 
have  an  identical  character  wherever  he  goes.  I  found 
here  the  same  scenes  in  both  I  had  witnessed  in  Havana 
at  the  beginning  of  my  journey.  The  temple,  economi- 
cally set  up  in  some  upper  rear  room,  abounds  in  gaudy 
signs  and  some  good  bronzes,  but  is  little  frequented. 
The  theatre  is  far  more  popular.  The  dresses  used  here 
are  rich  and  interesting.  The  performers  are  continu- 
ally marching,  fighting,  spinning  about,  pretending  to  be 
dead  and  jumping  up  again,  and  singing  in  high,  cracked 
voices  like  the  whine  of  a  bagpipe.  A  doughty  warrior, 
who  may  be  Gengis  Khan  or  Tiinour  the  Tartar,  and  bear 


SAN  FRANCISCO. 


339 


'% 


IN    A    CHINKSK    TIIKATUK. 


340         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

liiiiiself  with  the  "  inctst  liauglity  stride  and  withering 
])ride/'  will  sing  3'on  his  lines  in  this  same  pnnj,  whining 
voice,  and  no  other.  The  slightness  of  the  means  of  illu- 
sion is  a  niiive  feature  of  interest  in  the  Chinese  drama. 
As  one  of  the  simple  rustics  in  the  Midsummer  Nighfs 
Dream  holds  up  an  arm  to  represent  a  wall,  across  which 
Pyramus  and  Thisbe  are  supposed  to  talk,  so  here,  if  it 
be  designed,  for  instance,  to  represent  the  march  of  an 
army  through  the  woods,  a  screen  is  ])ut  npat  one  side 
of  the  stage,  bearing  an  inscription  which  no  doubt  says 
"  Woods,"  and  around  this  the  military  betake  them- 
selves. 

The  cemeterj'  is  more  curious  even  than  the  theatre  of 
Chinadom  in  San  Francisco.  I  came  upon  it  in  the  course 
of  a  long  stroll  one  afternoon,  and  was  almost  the  only 
spectator  of  some  peculiar  ceremonial  rites  in  propitiation 
of  the  dead.  It  is  not  grouped  in  the  general  Golgotha  at 
Lone  Mountain,  but  adjoins  that  devoted  to  the  city  pau- 
pers, out  among  the  melancholy  sand-dunes  by  the  ocean. 
It  is  parcelled  off  by  white  fences  into  a  large  number  of 
enclosures  for  separate  burial  guilds,  or  tongs.  These  have 
large  signs  upon  them — "  Fook  Yam  Tong,"  "Tung  Sen 
Tong,"  "  Ye  On  Tong,"  etc.  One  has  almost  difficulty 
to  persuade  himself  that  he  is  awake  witnessing  such  do- 
ings as  here  take  place  in  the  broad  sunlight  of  Yankee- 
land. 

It  is  the  practice  to  convey  the  bones  of  their  dead  to 
China,  but  there  are  preliminary  funerals  in  regular  form. 
All  the  "hacks"  in  San  Francisco  are  often  engaged. 
The  bones  are  left  in  the  ground  a  year  or  more  before 
removal. 

Toward  three  in  the  afternoon  a  number  of  express- 
wagons  of  the  common  sort  drove  up  wath  freights  of 
Chinamen  and  Chinawomen,  and  curiously  assorted  pro- 


SAN  FRANCISCO.  3-11 

visions.  The  "hoodlum"  drivers  conducted  themselves 
])eaceably  enough,  but  seemed  to  have  a  certain  sardonic 
air  at  the  idea  of  having  to  draw  their  profits  froni  pa- 
ti-ons  of  such  a  class.  The  provisions  were  unloaded,  taken 
up  and  laid  on  small  wooden  altars,  of  which  there  is  one 
;it  the  front  of  each  tong.  Most  conspicuous  were  whole 
loast  pigs,  decorated  with  ribbons  and  colored  papers. 
There  were  next  roast  fowls,  rice,  salads,  sweetmeats, 
fruits,  cigars,  and  rice  brandy.  The  participants  set  to 
work  to  fire  revolvers,  bombs,  and  crackers,  kindle  pack- 
ages of  colored  paper,  make  profound  genuflections  before 
the  graves,  and  scatter  libations  upon  them  of  food  and 
liquors.  Only  the  roast  pigs  were  reserved  and  taken 
home  again  ;  all  the  rest  was  scattered  about.  The  din 
and  smoke  increased  apace;  the  strange- garbed  figures 
pranced  about  like  sorcerers,  and  the  decorated  pigs 
loomed  out  with  a  goblin  air.  It  seemed  a  veritable 
witches'  Sabbath.  Some  of  the  fruits  and  cigars  were 
hospitably  offered  to  me  as  I  looked  on  ;  and  I  will  say 
that  parsimony  does  not  seem  a  vice  of  the  Chinaman, 
though  he  lives  upon  so  little,  and  is  content  with  mod- 
erate returns. 

Coming  back  the  same  way  in  the  evening,  I  noted 
prowling  figures  of  white  men  among  the  graves,  gath- 
ering up  the  fragments  cast  down  by  the  improvident 
heathen. 

I  am  glad,  on  the  whole,  not  to  have  the  mooted  Chi- 
nese question  to  settle  in  person.  On  the  one  hand,  a 
great  law  of  political  economy — the  natural  right  of  man 
to  seek  happiness  where  he  will ;  on  the  other,  a  view  that 
the  best  good  of  a  community  does  not  necessarily  consist 
in  mere  size  and  value  of  "improvements."  The  reflect- 
ive mind  will  find  it  rather  in  the  greatest  average  distri- 
bution of  comfort.     I  should  say  that  there  have  been  no 


342         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVLNCES. 

evils  of  consequence  experienced  from  the  presence  of  the 
Cliinese  ])opuliition  as  yet.  Without  them  the  raih-oads 
could  not  have  been  built,  nor  the  agricultural  nor  min- 
ing interests  developed.  With  all  the  complaint,  too,  of 
competition,  the  wages  of  white  labor  are  better  here  than 
at  the  East,  and  the  cost  of  living  is  certainly  not  more. 

A  proper  male  costume  for  San  Francisco  is  humor- 
ousl}'  said  to  be  a  linen  duster  with  a  fur  collar.  The 
variability  of  the  climate  within  brief  spaces  of  time  is 
thus  indicated.  It  varies  largely,  in  fact,  in  different 
parts  of  the  same  day,  though  the  mean  for  the  year  is 
reniai'kably  even.  The  mean  for  January — the  coldest 
month  —  is  but  fifty  degrees,  and  for  September  —  the 
warmest — fifty-eight.  It  is  a  famous  climate  for  work, 
but  the  average  temperature,  as  is  seen,  is  pretty  low  for 
comfort.  People  go  away  for  warmth  in  the  summer 
quite  as  much  as  for  coolness.  The  rainy  season — the 
winter — is  really  the  pleasantest  of  the  year.  The  air  is 
clearer  then,  wliile  the  prospects  are  verdant  and  best 
worthy  to  be  seen.  At  other  times  fogs  prevail,  or  bleak 
winds  arise  in  the  afternoon,  and  blow  dust,  in  a  dreary 
way,  into  the  eyes  of  all  whose  misfortune  calls  them  to 
be  then  in  the  streets. 

We  return  to  town  from  our  Chinese  ceremony  along 
wide  Point  Lobos  Avenue,  the  drive  to  the  Cliff  House. 
It  is  skirted  on  one  side  by  the  public  pleasure-ground. 
Golden  Gate  Park,  an  area  of  half  a  mile  by  three  miles 
and  a  half,  which  is  being  redeemed  from  an  original  con- 
dition of  drifting  sand  in  a  wonderful  way.  All  the  outer 
tract  near  the  ocean  is  as  desert  and  yellow  as  Sahara.  A 
few  scattered  dwellings  appear  in  the  sands,  each  with  its 
water-tank  and  windmill,  a  yucca-plant  or  two,  and  some 
knots  of  tough  grass  about  it.  The  city  appears  on  the 
edge  of  the  steep,  as  if  it  were  looking  over  in  surprise. 


THE   VILLAS   OF   THE  BONANZA    KINGS.  343 


XXIV. 

THE  VILLAS   OF   THE  BONANZA    KINGS. 


I  HAD  marked  out  as  a  field  of  travel  Southern  Cali- 
fornia. 

It  is  not  easy  to  decide  on  the  instant  just  what  South- 
ern California  should  be  deemed  to  comprehend.  Most  of 
the  State,  leaving  out  the  mining  and  lumbering  districts, 
displays  some  of  those  tropical  features  iu  which  the  idea 
of  Southern ness  to  the  imagination  of  the  temperate  cli- 
mates consists.  You  see  orange,  fig,  and  pomegranate 
trees  surrounding  pleasant  homes  at  Sonoma,  well  to  the 
north  of  San  Francisco.  One  of  the  most  important  dis- 
tricts for  raisin-culture  is  near  Sacramento  and  Maiys- 
\'ille,  north-west.  At  the  springs  of  Calistoga,  seventy- 
five  miles  north,  is  found  a  group  of  the  finest  palm-trees 
in  California.  It  is  safe  to  assume,  however,  that  all  this 
will  be  found  in  the  greater  perfection  as  the  low  lati- 
tudes are  approached. 

San  Francisco  lies  not  far  from  midway  of  the  State,  and 
Southern  California  may  conveniently  be  taken  as  all  that 
part  south  of  the  seaport  and  metropolis.  It  was  upon 
the  area  just  below,  around  the  Bay,  that  the  Rev.  Starr 
King  lavished  his  most  polished  eulogies,  desciibing  the 
"  flowers  by  the  acre,  flowers  by  the  square  mile,"  w^hich 
he  saw  there,  in  the  spring.  To  the  vicinity  of  San  Jose, 
fifty  miles  down.  Bayard  Taylor  proposed  (if  he  should 


34-i  OLD   MEXICO   AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

live  to  be  old,  and  note  his  faculties  failing)  to  retire  in 
order  to  renew  his  youth.  And  but  seventy-five  miles 
farther  south  are  the  summer  resorts — and  winter  resorts 
as  well — of  Santa  Cruz  and  Monterey. 

I  set  out  in  mid-autumn,  the  time  of  the  county  fairs, 
when  the  products  of  an  agricultural  country  should  be 
^een  to  particular  advantage.  There  was  held  at  San 
Jose  the  combined  fair  of  the  counties  of  Santa  Clara 
and  Santa  Cruz,  and  that  I  made  my  first  objective 
point. 

There  are  no  means  of  exit  from  San  Francisco  by  land 
except  to  the  southwai-d,  the  long,  narrow  peninsula  on 
which  it  lies  being  surrounded  on  all  other  sides  by  water. 
One  may  cross,  however,  by  ferry  to  Oakland — the  Jersey 
City  and  Hoboken,  as  well  as  Brooklyn,  of  the  place — and 
go  around  the  bay  on  that  side  by  a  road  which  reaches 
San  Jose  also.  In  doing  so  you  traverse  Alameda  County, 
which  raises  nearly  a  million  bushels  of  wheat  a  year 
from  a  single  township,  together  with  tons  of  sugar-beets, 
and  more  hay  than  any  other  county  in  the  State.  It 
comes  third  also  in  rank  for  grape-vines,  and  has  tropical 
pretensions  of  its  own,  making  an  exhibit  of  orange  and 
lemon  trees  in  certain  favored  nooks.  But  tlie  more  di- 
rect way  is  the  coast  division  of  the  Southern  Pacific 
Railway,  down  the  peninsula. 

Let  us  glance  at  topography  a  moment,  California  is 
fenced  off  into  valleys  by  two  long  north  and  south 
ranges — the  Sierra  J^evadas,  immensely  high,  and  the 
lower  Coast  Kange.  These  meet  in  acute  points,  north 
at  Shasta,  and  south  at  the  Tejon  Pass,  and  become  one. 
They  enclose  between  them  the  vast  central  space  known 
in  its  upper  portion  as  the  Sacramento  Valley,  and  its 
lower  as  the  San  Joaquin  Yalley,  from  the  two  main  riv- 
ers by  which  it  is  drained.    The  granite  Sierra  JSTevadas 


THE  VILLAS   OF  THE  BONANZA   KINGS.  347 

The  guide-book  promises,  "  after  a  few  minutes'  ride, 
orchards,  vineyards,  elegant  farm-houses,  prospects  to 
charm  all  wiio  love  the  beauties  of  nature,"  But,  really 
— one  rubs  his  eyes — where  are  they  ?  The  ground  is 
mournfully  bare  and  brown.  Hardly  a  tree  or  a  bush  is 
seen  ;  not  a  green  blade  of  grass.  At  length  some  small 
trees,  a  variety  of  scrub-oaks,  at  a  little  distance  resem- 
bling the  olive!  Farm-houses  are  few,  and  not  at  all 
"  elegant."  The  hills  are  of  the  color  of  camel's  hide, 
and  not  unlike  the  camel's  humps. 

At  Millbrae,  finally,  there  is  a  glimpse  of  the  wooden 
towers,  in  the  American  style,  of  a  villa,  and  a  large 
dairy  barn.  At  Belmont  the  low  hills  are  close  at  hand. 
At  Menlo  Park  a  charming  flower-bed  is  cared  for,  by 
the  track,  as  at  foreign  railway -stations.  We  are  in 
the  chosen  site  for  villa  residences  of  the  San  Francisco 
millionnaires.  The  surface  is  flat,  and  with  its  growth  of 
oaks  recalls  the  outskirts  of  Chicago,  as  at  Hyde  Park  or 
Riverside. 

The  valley  widens  till  the  hills  are  distant  and  veiled  in 
blue,  with  tawny  grain-fields  between ;  but  still  no  ver- 
dure! And  where  are  the  wild  flowers?  One  hardly 
expects  them  now  "  by  the  acre  and  by  the  square  mile," 
it  is  true,  since  it  is  autumn  ;  but  of  all  the  primroses, 
tlie  larkspur,  the  lupin,  the  poppies  of  tradition,  not  one ! 
Not  a  narcissus!  not  a  chrysanthemum!  Oh,  my  prede- 
cessors !  what  shall  I  think  of  you  ? 

In  the  spring  the  flowers  bloom  and  carpet  the  earth 
as  grass  carpets  it  elsewhere.  Speaking  of  the  spring  the 
eulogists  do  not  say  a  word  too  much.  But  it  is  my 
originality  to  have  seen  Southern  California  in  the  au- 
tumn and  winter — as  it  is  for  seven  months  of  every 
year,  and  as  it  may  be,  in  exceptional  seasons,  the  whole 
year  through. 


348         OLD  MEXICO  A.VD  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Not  to  make  a  great  deal  of  tliis  bareness  and  dryness 
would  be  to  neglect  a  most  essential  feature.  The  an- 
nual rains  begin  in  December,  January,  or  February,  and 
continue  till  June,  diminishing  in  May,  which  is  some- 
times itself  a  dry  month.  In  the  autumn  the  leaves  fall 
— what  comparatively  few  there  are  to  fall — as  elsewhere, 
and  are  not  renewed. 

"But  you  set  up  to  be  a  land  of  perpetual  summer, 
you  know,"  one  argues  with  the  Californian,  in  the  first 
state  of  surprise. 

"So  we  are,"  he  replies;  "but  that  does  not  necessari- 
ly mean  perpetual  verdure.  Look  at  the  thermometer! 
look  at  the  fertility  of  the  land  !  You  have  but  to  run 
water  on  it  by  irrigation,  and  it  will  do  whatever  you 
please.  Contrast  this  brown  season  with  your  own  white 
one.  The  land  is  dry  and  easy  to  get  about  on,  and  the 
sky  above  is  uniformly  pleasant.  Do  you  prefer  your 
fields  of  sheeted  snow,  under  the  howling  blasts?  your 
quagmires  of  mud  and  slush,  alternately  freezing  and 
thawing?" 

"Very  true,"  I  admit,  accepting  this  different  point  of 
view. 

Then,  perhaps,  by  way  of  finishing  touch,  he  adds, 
rising  to  a  dignity  well  justified  by  the  facts,  "  California 
sets  up  to  be  a  land  of  relations,  commercial,  agricultural, 
mineral,  and  social,  which  have  made  it  a  power  in  the 
world.  It  has  revolutionized  values,  struck  the  key-note 
of  new  social  conditions,  and  begun  a  new  commercial 
era.  California  has  arrived  at  a  point  where  she  takes 
her  place  in  the  Union  on  the  ordinary  terms.  We  no 
longer  depend  upon  a  repute  for  astounding  beauties  and 
eccentricities — though  of  these,  too,  there  is  no  lack,  as 
you  will  find." 


THE   VILLAS  OF  THE  BONANZA  KINGS.  349 


II. 

San  Jose,  a  city  of  twenty  thousand  people,  contests 
with  Sacramento  the  honor  of  being  third  in  importance 
in  the  State.  You  ah'ght  there  at  the  small  station.  In 
the  vicinity  are  a  waiting  horse-car,  a  blacksmith's  shop, 
and  rail-fences  painted  witli  advertisements.  These  have 
a  very  American  look,  to  begin  with,  for  a  }>lace  with  a 
romantic  Spanisli  name — a  place  to  which  you  are  recom- 
mended to  come  in  search  of  the  elixir  of  life.  And  so 
have  the  small  picket-fences  an  x\merican  look,  and  the 
comfortable  little  clapboarded  wooden  houses  behind 
them,  with  scroll -sawed  ornaments  in  their  piazzas. 
With  the  exception  of  an  unusual  number  of  French 
and  Italian  names  on  the  sign-boai'ds,  and  some  large, 
clean  tuns  in  front  of  the  shops  of  dealers  in  native 
wines,  it  is  as  downright  a  little  Yankee  town  as  ever 
was.  There  is  much  shade  in  the  streets,  and  in  a  pub- 
lic green,  but  the  trees  are  yet  too  small  and  low. 

It  is  a  clean,  prosperous  city,  the  centre  of  a  rich  agri- 
cultural district.  It  has  excellent  schools  and  all  the 
other  conveniences  of  life.  A  good  deal  of  money  has 
been  spent  on  the  principal  business  buildings.  As  in 
most  other  provincial  towns  througiiout  the  State,  they 
are  much  covered  with  bay-windows,  in  what  might  be 
described  as  the  San  Francisco  style  of  architecture.  An 
iron  trestle-work  tower  was  going  up  at  the  intersection 
of  the  two  main  streets,  to  rise  to  a  height  of  two  hun- 
dred feet,  to  contain  an  electric  light  and  illuminate  the 
town.  The  white  Court-house,  in  the  chissic  style, 
though  not  large,  is  agreeably  proportioned,  and  quite 
a  model  of  its  kind. 

The  week's  doings  at  the  Fair  Grounds  resolved  them- 


850         OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  rUOVINCES. 

selves  chiefly  into  trotting-matclies.  I  was  told  that  the 
combined  display  of  the  two  counties  was  poorer  this 
year  than  either  was  in  the  habit  of  making  alone. 
There  was  racing  and  ornamental  riding,  one  day,  by 
young  women,  and  those  who  took  premiums  were  girls 
of  but  fourteen  and  sixteen.  Anotiier  popular  feature  of 
these  county  fairs  was  "firemen's  tournaments,"  in  which 
differeut  companies  held  contests  of  speed,  equipped  with 
all  their  paraphernalia. 

There  was  but  a  scattering  display  of  live-stock,  and 
little  or  no  fruit.  The  two-hundred-pound  squash,  the 
twenty-six-pound  turnip,  the  beet  five  feet  in  length  and 
a  foot  through,  the  apples  and  pears  commensurate  with 
these,  were  not  shown.  I  had  seen  them  before,  and  did 
not  much  regret  their  absence.  I  have  a  lurking  sus- 
picion that  there  is  a  standard  of  the  vegetable  as  of  the 
human  race,  and  that  the  Tom  Thumbs  and  General 
Bateses  of  the  one  are  not  more  fortunate  in  their  de- 
parture from  it  than  those  of  the  other. 

The  capacity  of  the  country  to  produce  fruits,  not 
simply  of  abnormal  size,  but  fine  quality — excepting  the 
apple,  which  requires  extremes  of  heat  and  cold,  and 
remains  insipid — has,  perhaps,  been  too  well  tested  to 
need  competitive  exhibitions.  What  better  county  fair 
than  the  daily  display  of  fruits  and  vegetables  in  the  San 
Francisco  market  ?  The  regular  season  for  any  and  all 
of  them  is  twice  as  long  as  on  the  Atlantic  coast  at  cor- 
responding latitudes. 

I  traversed  the  much-eulogized  "Alameda,"  an  avenue 
of  willows  and  poplars,  of  three  miles,  set  out,  in  1799, 
by  Spanish  friars.  These  founded  a  mission  among  the 
Indians  at  Santa  Clara,  to  which  town  the  avenue  ex- 
tends. There  remains  at  Santa  Clara  the  chapel  of  the 
mission,  with   its   adobe  walls,  five   feet  thick,  and   flat 


THE  VILLAS   OF  THE  BONANZA   KINGS.  351 

wooden  ceiling,  rudely  painted.  It  is  now  a  part  of  a 
jflourishing  collegiate  institution.  Across  the  way  is  a 
clump  of  ruinous  old  adobe  cottages  of  the  same  date; 
but  we  are  adjured  to  pay  no  great  heed  to  these,  since 
we  are  going  presently  to  Monterey,  which  has,  as  it 
were,  a  grand  specialty  of  all  that  kind  of  thing. 

The  Alameda  poplars  and  willows  make  but  a  moder- 
ate showing  for  their  age,  and  can  hardly  be  rated  equal 
to  New  ILiven  elms,  for  instance.  Behind  them,  along 
both  sides  of  the  road,  are  houses  of  a  hourgeois  comfort, 
as  in  the  town.  There  are  said  to  be  residents  of  wealth 
and  leisure  who  have  been  attracted  here  to  pass  the  re- 
mainder of  their  days  in  peace.  The  Coast  Mountains, 
they  say,  cut  off  the  fogs  and  winds  of  the  ocean,  and  a 
higher  range  on  the  other  side  bars  out  the  heats  of  the 
country  eastward.  We  endeavor  to  divine,  in  some  su- 
perior refinement  of  taste  and  sentiment,  the  abodes  of 
these  particular  ones.  It  is  a  pleasant  conception,  that 
of  coming  here  to  live  for  the  pure  physical  delight  m 
living,  and  highly  interesting.  Perhaps  their  daughters 
will  stand  by  the  gates  with  a  certain  repining  mingled 
with  their  air  of  superior  distinction,  as  if  they,  for  their 
part,  had  not  quite  so  willinglj'  consented  to  abandon  a 
world  of  larger  opportunities.  But  we  do  not  succeed. 
Some  of  these  residents  are  simply  rude  mining  men  who 
have  broken  their  constitutions  in  Nevada  and  Utah ; 
and,  after  all,  the  desire  to  live  a  life  of  physical  con- 
tentment does  not  ini})]y  taste  in  architecture  and  land- 
scape gardening. 

III. 

One  had  expected  a  good  deal  of  novelty  and  pic- 
turesqueness  from  these  towns,  of  romantic  "  San  "  and 
"Santa,"  and  "Los"  and   "Del,"  and   feels  rather  ag- 


352         OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

grieved  not  to  get  so  much  of  it.  Its  absence  is  explained 
in  part  by  the  fact  that  there  were  rarely  original  settle- 
ments corresponding  to  the  present  names.  These  are 
taken  rather  from  ranches,  springs,  or  mines  in  the  neigh- 
borhood. On  the  arrival  of  the  Americans  in  Califoi'nia 
there  were  but  tliirteen  thousand  Spanish,  or  Mexicans, 
all  told,  while  the  territory  was  as  large  as  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  the  six  New  England  States  put  to- 
gether. 

Let  us  believe  that  the  pleasing  designations  will  act  as 
a  stimulus,  and  these  communities  will  live  up  to  their 
names  in  time,  as  they  never  could  have  done  were  they 
simply  Smithville  and  Jonesville. 

The  impressions  at  San  Jose,  and  in  the  country  at 
large,  resulting  from  a  second  visit  a  month  later,  were 
more  agreeable.  Something  like  the  pi'oper  point  of 
view  had  then  been  attained.  The  face  of  natui'e  was  to 
be  parched,  and  the  towns  rather  commonplace;  but  the 
continued  cloudlessness  of  the  sky,  and  quality  of  the  air, 
were  more,  and  the  peculiar  form  of  pleasure  was  settled 
where  it  belonged. 

The  district  of  villa  residences  of  the  millionnaires, 
when  penetrated,  gained  much  in  attractiveness.  There 
are  white-oaks  and  chestnut-oaks,  as  well  as  scrub-oaks,  in 
groups  of  a  park-like  appearance,  and  live-oaks,  Avith  long, 
graj'  Spanish  moss  depending  from  them.  If  there  are  no 
wild  flowers,  thei'e  are  plenty  of  the  cultivated  sort,  with 
lawns  kept  green  by  fountains  and  hose.  AVhere  there  is 
watei',  the  winter,  or  brown  season,  need  never  extend. 

As  a  rule,  long  stretches  of  wliite  picket-fence  surround 
the  places,  and  the  houses  themselves  are  white. 

The  bonanza  kings  have  been  invested  with  a  greater 
air  of  magnificence  than  really  belongs  to  them.  Their 
places  cost  them  immense  sump,  it  is  ti'ue,  but  a  reduction 


THE   VILLAS   OF   THE  BONANZA    KINGS.  353 

slionld  be  made  to  Eastern  standards.  The  outpouring  of 
untold  millions  put  up  the  prices  of  land,  labor,  and  every 
commodity  entering  into  the  result,  so  that  less  was  ob- 
tained for  the  money  than  an  equal  expenditui'e  would 
have  procured  here.  The  Menlo  Park  district  is  inferior 
to  Llewellyn  Park,  Englewood,  Irvington,  and  others,  in 
the  neighborhood  of  New  York. 

The  builders  have  struck  out  a  kind  of  style  of  their 
own,  perhaps  in  too  great  haste  to  wait  for  imported 
ideas.  The  houses  are  chiefly  of  wood.  Flood,  of  Flood 
<fe  O'Brien,  and  "Consolidated  Virginia"  when  the  great 
bonanza  was  struck,  had  just  completed  one  of  great  size, 
on  an  estate  of  five  hundred  acres,  at  Menlo  Park.  Tliere 
was  a  terrace,  with  a  fine  bronze  fountain.  The  main 
steps  were  of  polished  marble  with  bronze  sphinxes,  and 
bronze  dragons  studded  the  ornate  stables — the  whole 
glaring,  white,  and  over -gorgeous,  like  listening  to  the 
noise  of  a  brass  band. 

There  are  some  gentler,  more  home-like  places,  and  re- 
calling the  tone  of  rural  life  at  the  East.  Such  a  one  is 
that  of  ex-Governor  Leland  Stanford,  at  Palo  Alto.  Here 
is  a  breeding  farm  for  horses,  one  of  the  most  complete  of 
the  kind  in  the  world.  Of  seventeen  hundred  acres  one 
hundred  are  occupied  by  stables,  barns,  and  small  pad- 
docks, which,  at  the  foot  of  a  gentle  rise  of  ground,  make 
a  small  city  by  themselves.  It  is  inhabited  by  a  popula- 
tion of  nearly  live  hundred  animals,  who  return  hither 
from  business,  as  it  were,  in  the  pastures  and  race-tracks, 
and  have  two  hundred  persons  employed  in  their  domes- 
tic service.  The  spacious  stables  are  nnifoinily  flcjored 
and  ceiled  up  with  redwood,  strewn  with  the  fresiicst 
straw,  and  kept  as  neat  as  the  most  unexceptionable 
drawing-room. 

Scions  of  the  stock,  representing  the  best  thoroughbred 


35-1 


OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


and  trotting  strains 
in  the  country,  are 
an  important  influ- 
ence in  improving 
the  breed  of  horses 
throughout  the  Pa- 
cific slope.  It  was 
liere  that  the  curious 
experiments  were 
conducted,  at  the 
expense  of  Gover- 
nor Stanford,  for  ar- 
riving at  a  better  understanding  of  the  speed  of  horses 
by  photograpliing  them  in  motion.  The  photographer, 
Mujbridge,  of  San  Francisco,  succeeded,  by  an  ingenious 
arrangement  of  electrical  wires,  connnunicating  with  cam- 
eras, in  securing  twelve  distinct  views  of  a  single  stride. 
The  attitudes  are  of  the  most  unexpected  sort,  and  some 
of  them  even  comic. 


THE  VILLAS   OF  THE  BONANZA    KINGS.  355 

From  the  time  of  foaling  the  colts  are  gently  handled, 
and  made  as  familiar  with  the  touch  of  harness  as  with 
that  of  human  hands.  As  a  consequence  they  are  tame, 
gentle,  and  even  affectionate,  and  never  need  formal 
breaking.  The  effect  of  the  system  of  training  has  been 
apparent  in  some  notable  records  of  speed.  i)\\  the  Bay 
Disti'ict  Association  track,  at  San  Francisco,  in  1880,  the 
two-year-old  Fred  Crocker  lowered  the  record  foi*  a  one- 
mile  trot  to  2'  25^".  Last  year  Bonita,  a  two-year-old 
filly,  cut  it  down  to  2'  2-i^" .  At  the  same  trotting  exhi- 
bition Wildliower,  another  two-year-old,  made  the  mile 
in  2'  21";  and  Ilinda  Rose,  a  yearling  filly,  added  to  the 
fame  of  the  farm  by  cutting  down  the  yearling  record  to 
2'  3G^". 

The  interiors  of  these  fine  villas  are,  as  a  rule,  better 
than  the  exteriors.  The  Mills  house,  at  Millbrae,  resi- 
dence of  a  banking  and  railway  magnate,  now  of  New 
York,  is  a  notable  collection  of  jportVeres  and  Oriental 
rugs,  and  bed-chambers  done  in  the  finest  woods,  with  a 
picture-gallery  of  works  of  Gerome,  Detaille,  and  Bou- 
guereau,  while  from  all  the  windows  are  vistas  of  fan- 
palms,  flower-beds,  greensward,  and  bronzes. 

Ralston's  old  house,  at  Belmont,  now  the  property  of 
Senator  Sharon,  is  of  those  of  tlie  greatest  interest,  through 
interest  in  the  remarkable  man  who  built  it.  Starting 
from  humble  origin,  he  rose  to  be  a  great  capitalist  and 
the  promoter  of  brilliant  schemes  of  improvement,  both 
public  and  private.  He  conducted  to  success  a  hundred 
projects  which  in  other  hands  w^ould  have  been  foll)^  atid 
arrived  thus  at  such  an  unbounded  confidence  in  his  star 
that  he  thought  he  could  not  fail.  He  was  entangled  at 
last,  however,  in  schemes  beyond  his  control.  Strong  and 
athletic,and  in  the  prime  of  life,  he  went  down  to  "Harry 
Meigs's"  wharf,  in  San  Francisco — almost  the  very  point 


356         OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

from  whicli  liis  great  prototype  sailed  away  to  Peru — and 
swam  out  half  a  mile  into  the  bay.  It  was  for  refresh- 
ment in  his  troubles,  as  some  say,  but,  as  the  general 
opinion  is,  with  the  purpose  of  suicide.  At  any  rate  he 
was  never  seen  alive  again. 

The  house  that  was  his  is  notched  into  the  hill-side,  in 
a  rolling  country,  much  pleasanter  than  the  plain  at  Men- 
lo  Park.  A  pretty  gorge  behind  it  is  dammed  to  furnish 
a  water-supply.  There  are  gas-works,  a  bowling-allej',  and 
an  elaborate  Turkish  bath  among  the  out-buildings,  and 
a  grange-like  barn  of  solid  stone,  i\^y-grown,  which  cost 
$80,000.  The  immense  house  is  wood,  white,  in  the  usual 
fashion,  and,  with  its  numerous  stories  and  windows,  is 
not  unlike  a  large  country  hotel.  A  peculiar  arrange- 
ment and  great  spaciousness  give  it  a  palatial  air  within. 
The  principal  rooms  open  into  one  another  by  glass  par- 
titions, which  can  be  rolled  away,  so  that  in  large  gath- 
erings there  need  be  no  crowding  through  doorwaj's. 
There  is  an  arcade  above,  around  a  grand  staircase,  with 
tribunes  projecting,  in  which  young  women  in  colors,  at 
an  evening  party,  for  instance,  would  look  particularly 
liouri-like.  What  in  another  house  would  be  the  ordi- 
nary veranda  is  here  a  delightful  promenade,  glazed  in, 
and  provided  with  easy  furniture  and  a  parquetry  iioor. 
Behind  a  row  of  sueli  main  apartments  as  drawing-room 
and  library  comes  a  parallel  row,  of  which  one  is  a  great 
ball-room,  entirely  faced  with  mirrors.  Pianos,  mantels, 
and  stair-posts  are  of  California  laurel — a  new  industry 
encouraged  by  the  owner  among  rnau}^  others. 

We  drove  from  Belmont  back  through  a  succession  of 
cup-like  dells  in  the  lower  mountains,  a  number  of  them 
dammed  to  form  pretty  lakes,  the  sources  of  supply  for 
the  Spring  Valley  Water  Company  —  a  corporation  of 
great  prominence  at  San  Francisco.     The  slopes  at  first 


THE    VILLAS   OF  THE  BOXANZA   KIXGS.  357 


358         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  mOVlNCES. 

were  tawny  with  grain  stubble;  tlien  scattered  with  the 
thick  bush  known  as  chnparral;  tlien  bare.  We  passed 
an  occasional  lonely  farm  known  as  a "  milk  ranch," 
or  "chicken  ranch."  There  are  no  farms  in  California; 
no  matter  how  small  the  tract  is,  it  is  always  a  ranch. 

In  the  strong,  warm  sunshine  chance  objects  on  the 
bare  slopes  cast  intense,  purplish  shadows.  That  of  a 
distant  tree  is  as  dark  as  if  a  pit  had  been  dug  under  it. 
That  of  a  bird,  flying  low,  is  followed  as  distinctly  as  the 
bird  itself.  You  are  reconciled  at  last  to  the  brown 
tone.  It  is  like  Algeria.  White  stands  out  in  brilliant 
relief  against  it.  One  would  rather  like  it  to  be  a  dif- 
ferent white,  however,  than  that  of  the  little  wooden 
houses.  The  falconers  of  Fromentin  might  career  or 
the  rival  Arab  chiefs  of  Pasini  hold  conferences  among 
such  hills. 


THE  VINTAGE  SEASON,  AND  MONTEREY.  359 


XXV. 

THE  VINTAGE  SEASON,  AND  MONTEREY. 


It  was  tlie  pleasant  vintage  season  at  San  Jose.  Santa 
Clara  County,  of  which  San  Jose  is  tlie  capital,  boasts 
of  a  number  of  acres  of  grape-vines  under  cultivation 
(over  eleven  thousand)  second  only  to  Sonoma  County. 
Napa,  however,  to  the  north,  and  Los  Angeles,  to  the 
south,  greatly  surpass  it  in  gallons  of  wine  and  brandy 
produced. 

I  visited,  among  others,  the  Le  Franc  vineyard,  Avhich 
dates  from  1851,  and  is  the  pioneer  in  making  wine-grow- 
ing a  regular  industry.  Here  are  about  a  hundred  and 
seventy-five  thousand  vines,  set  out  a  thousand,  perhaps, 
to  the  acre.  The  large,  cheerful  farm  buildings  are  upon 
a  gentle  rise  of  ground  above  the  area  of  vines,  whicii  is 
nearly  level.  An  Alsacian  foreman  showed  us  through 
the  wine-cellars.  A  servant-maid  bustling  about  the 
yard  was  a  thorough  French  peasant,  only  lacking  the 
wooden  shoes.  The  long  tables,  set  for  tlie  forty  hands 
employed  in  the  vintage-time,  were  spread  with  viands 
in  the  French  fashion.  Scarcely  a  word  of  English  was 
spoken. 

At  other  places  the  surroundings  are  as  exclusively 
Italian  or  Portuguese.  One  feels  very  much  abroad  in 
such  scenes  on  American  soil.  The  foreigners  from 
Southern  Europe  take  naturally  to  wine-making  and  go 


360  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

into  it,  from  the  few  hundred  gallons  of  red  wine  made 
by  the  Portuguese  and  Italian  laborers  for  their  own 
families,  to  the  manufacture  of  an  American  champagne 
on  a  large  scale  by  the  Hungarian,  Arpad  Haraszthy,  at 
San  Francisco.  The  Americans,  who  have  not  acquired 
the  habit  of  looking  upon  wine  as  a  necessity  in  the 
family,  are  not  yet,  as  a  rule,  very  active  in  its  produc- 
tion. 

A  certain  romantic  interest  attaches  to  this  ancient  in- 
dustry. The  great  tuns  in  the  wine-cellars  and  all  the 
processes  were  very  clean.  It  was  re- assuring  to  see  the 
pure  juice  of  the  grape  poured  out  in  such  floods,  and  to 
feel  that  here  was  no  need — founded  on  scarcity,  at  least 
— for  adulteration. 

Teeining  loads  of  the  purple  fruit  were  driven  up,  and 
across  a  weighing  scale.  The  contents  are  lifted  to  an 
upper  story,  put  into  a  hopper,  where  the  stems  come 
off,  and  the  grapes  fall  through  to  a  crusher.  They  are 
lightly  crushed  at  first.  It  is  something  of  a  discovery 
that  the  earliest  product  of  grapes  of  every  hue  is  white 
wine.  The  red  wine  gets  its  hue  from  the  coloring  mat- 
ter in  the  skins,  which  are  utilized  in  a  subsequent  ruder 
squeezing. 

I  shall  not  enter  upon  all  the  various  processes — the 
racking  off,  clarifying,  and  the  like — though,  so  much  in 
the  company  of  those  who  spoke  with  authority  and  were 
continually  holding  up  little  glasses  to  the  light  with 
a  gusto,  like  figures  in  popular  chromes,  I  consider 
myself  to  yield  in  knowledge  of  such  abstruse  matters 
to  none.  Immense  upright  casks,  containing  a  warm, 
audibly  fermenting  mass,  and  others  lying  down,  neatly 
varnished,  with  concave  ends,  are  the  most  salient  feat- 
ures in  the  dimly  lighted  wine-cellars. 

They  are  not  cellars,  properly  so  called,  either,  since 


THE   VINTAGE  SEASON,  AND  MONTEREY.  361 


BOTTLING    CHAMPAGNE   AT   SAN    FRANCISCO. 


362         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  I'liOVINCES. 

they  arc  wholly  above-ground.  The  casks  rest  on 
wooden  sills  upheld  by  short  brick  posts.  In  the  cellars 
of  General  Naglee,  a  successful  maker  of  brandy  on  a 
large  scale,  the  cobwebs  have  been  allowed  to  increase 
and  hang  like  tattei'cd  banners.  Throngh  these  the  light 
penetrates  diudy  from  above,  or  with  a  white  glare  from 
a  latticed  window,  upon  which  the  patterns  of  vine- 
leaves  without  are  defined.  The  buildings  are  brown, 
gray,  and  vine-clad,  with  quaint,  Dutch-pavilion-looking 
roofs,  and  dove-cotes  attached.  A  lofty  water-tank,  with 
a  wind-mill — a  feature  of  every  California  rural  home- 
stead— here  is  more  tower-like  than  usual. 

Round  about  extend  long  avei>«es  of  eucalyptus^  pine, 
tamarind,  with  its  black,  dry  pods;  the  pepper-tree,  with 
its  scarlet  berries;  large  clunjps  of  the  najxil  cactus^  and 
an  occasional  maguey,  or  century-plant.  All  is  glowing 
now  with  the  tints  of  autumn.  Poplar  and  cotton  wood 
are  yellow.  The  peach  and  almond,  the  liavvton  black- 
berry, and  the  vineyards  themselves,  touched  by  frost, 
supply  the  scarlet  and  crimson.  The  country  seems 
bathed  in  a  fixed  sunshine,  or  in  hues  of  its  own  wines. 

The  vines,  themselves  short  and  stout,  and  needing  no 
support,  yield  each  an  incredible  number  of  purple  clus- 
ters, all  growing  from  the  top.  They  quaintly  suggest 
the  uncouth  little  men  of  llendrik  Hudson  who  stagger 
up  the  mountain,  in  "Rip  Van  Winkle,*'  with  kegs  of 
spirits  on  their  shoulders. 

No  especial  attention  is  given  to  the  frosts  now,  but 
those  of  the  early  spring  are  the  object  of  many  precau- 
tions. The  most  effectual  is  to  kindle  smudge-fires  about 
the  vineyard  toward  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the 
smoke  of  which  envelops  it  and  keeps  it  in  a  warmer 
atmosphere  of  its  own  till  the  sun  be  well  risen. 

Three  to  four  tons  of  grapes  to  the  acre  are  counted 


THE   VINTAGE  ^EAiiOX,  AXD  MONTEREY.  363 


A    BKANDY    CKI.LAR,  SAN    JOSK. 


364         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVIXCES. 

upon  ;  wliile  farther  south,  where  irrigation  is  used,  they 
expect  from  eight  to  twelve.  l>ut  it  is  claimed,  in  the 
standing  controversy  on  the  subject,  that  the  irrigated 
grapes  are  watery,  wliile  those  of  lesser  yield  excel  them 
in  quality.  The  best  results,  we  were  told,  ai-e  got  fi-om 
such  vines  as  the  Mataro,  Carignane,  and  Grenache,  im- 
]»orted  cuttings  from  the  French  slope  of  the  Pyrenees. 
There  Avere  at  Le  Franc's  not  less  tiian  sixty  varieties, 
under  probation,  numy  of  which  will,  no  duuijt,  give  an 
excellent  account  of  themselves.  They  are  assembled 
from  Greece,  Italy,  Palestine,  and  the  Canary  Islands,  so 
that  we  have  all  the  chances  of  the  development  of 
Sumething  suited  to  our  peculiar  conditions. 


II. 

I  left  San  Jose  to  drive  along  the  dry,  shallow  bed  of 
the  Guadalupe  River  to  the  Guadalupe  Quicksilver  Mine, 
a  more  remote  and  less  visited  companion  of  well-known 
New  Almaden.  The  tnine  is  in  a  lovely  little  vale,  with 
a  settlement  of  Mexican  and  Chinese  boarding-houses 
clustered  around  it.  Some  bold  ledges  of  rock  jut  out 
al)ove,  and  a  superintendent's  house  sui-rounded  by  flowers 
•hangs  upon  the  hill-side.  A  weii'd-looking  flume  conveys 
the  sulphurous  acid  from  the  calcining  furnaces  to  a  hill- 
top, upon  which  every  trace  of  vegetation  has  be^n  blasted, 
by  its  poisonous  exhahitions. 

Then  I  made  a  little  tour  by  rail  southward  through 
the  iminense  "  Murphy  "  and  "Miller  and  Lux  "  ranches, 
comprising  a  grain  country  as  flat  as  a  floor. 

We  turned  west  through  the  fei'tile  little  Pajaro  Vsd- 
ley,  the  emporium  of  which  for  produce,  and  flue  red- 
M'ood  lumber,  cut  in  great  quantities  on  the  adjoining 
Santa  Cruz  Mountains,  is  the  thi-iving  town  of  Watson- 


'niK   VINTAGE  .SEASOy,  AXD   MOXTEIiEY. 


;^G5 


ville.  We  ran  along  a  rugged  coast,  past  wooded  gorges 
and  wliite  sea-side  cottages,  at  Aptos  and  Soqnel,  to  the 
nmch-freqnented  resort  of  Santa  Cruz.  Santa  Cruz  lias 
bold  variations  of  level,  the  usual  commonplace  buildings, 
a  noble  di'ive  alono:  cliffs  eaten  into  a  hundred  fantastic 


A    BIT    OF    OLD    MONTERET. 


shapes  i)y  the  waves,  and  shops  for  the  sale  of  shells,  and' 
its  summer  boarders,  who  become,  with  change  of  seasons, 
winter  boarders  in  turn.  Thence  finally  to  the  long-an- 
ticipated Monterey. 

Here  at  last  was  something  to  commend  from  the  point 
of  view  of  the  picturesque  without  reservation.  Mont- 
erey has  a  population  which  still,  in  considerable  part, 
speaks  Spanish  only.  It  retains  the  impress  of  the  Span- 
ish domination,  and  little  else.  When  you  are  told  in 
3'our  own  country  that  somebody  does  not  speak  English, 
you  naturally  infer  that  it  is  brokenly,  or  only  a  little. 


300  OLD  MEXICO   AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

But  at  Monterey  it  means  absolutely  not  a  word.  There 
are  Spanish  si<>;ns  on  the  shops,  and  even  Spanish  adver- 
tisements, as,  for  instance,  the  Wheeler  cfc  Wilson  Maqui- 
nas  d  Cosei\  on  the  fences. 

Mj  Mexican  experience  was  a  liberal  education  for 
Monterey,  and  I  made  the  most  of  it.  I  was  taken  to 
call  upon  an  ancient  senorita^  in  whose  history  there  was 
some  romance. 

'■''Las  rosas  son  tnny  secas^'' — ("  The  roses  are  very  dry  ") 
she  said,  apologetically,  as  we  entered  her  little  garden, 
laid  out  in  regular  parallelograms,  behind  an  adobe  wall 
topped  with  red  tiles.  Large  yellow  and  red  roses  were 
blowing  to  pieces  in  the  wind  before  her  long,  low  adobe 
house. 

iShe  was  one  of  those  who  spoke  no  English.  It  seems 
as  if  there  were  some  wilful  perversity  in  it,  after  having 
been  since  1846  a  part  of  the  most  bustling  State  of  the 
most  active  country  in  the  world.  It  seems  as  if  it  must 
be  some  lingering  hatred  of  the  American.  But  the 
senorita  is  far  too  gentle  for  that.  There  is,  perhaps,  no 
reason  beyond  a  general  mental  inertness  by  virtue  of 
which  the  Mexican  survivors  have  snffered  all  their  other 
interests  as  well  as  this  to  go  by  the  board. 

The  senorita  is  a  little,  thin  old  lady  of  ^iiy.  Her  ro- 
mance was  with  an  American  officer,  it  is  said,  thii'ty 
years  ago,  and  she  has  never  since  married,  but  has  with- 
ered, like  her  roses,  at  Monterey. 

As  seen  from  a  distance,  scattered  loosely  and  white 
on  the  forest-crested  slope  of  the  fine  bay,  the  little  city, 
which  has  now  perhaps  two  thousand  inhabitants,  does  not 
show  its  unlikeness  to  other  places.  But  when  entered 
it  consists  almost  exclusively  of  whitewashed  adobe  houses, 
and  the  straggling,  mud-colored  walls  of  enclosures,  for 
animals,  known  as  "corrals."     Many  of  them  are  vacant. 


THE   VINTAGE  SEASON,  AND   MONTEREY. 


367 


At  frequent 
inter\alb  is 
encountered 
too  some 
cibaniloned 

LOOKOUT   STATION'.  oUl         adobc 

barracks,  or 
gov^ernment  lionse,  or  military  prison  of  historic  fame, 
witli  its  whitewasli  gone,  lioles  in  its  walls,  and  bits  of 
broken  grating  and  balcony  hanging  aimlessly  on,  wait- 
ing only  the  first  opportunity  to  let  go. 

The  travellers  of  my  youth  had  a  fashion  of  talking 
glibly  of  adobe,  without  explaining  what  adobe  was.  Let 
me  not  be  guilty  of  the  same  error.  Adobc  is  bricks 
made  of  about  twice  the  usual  size,  and  dried  in  the  sun 
instead  of  beino^  baked.     Walls  are  made  of  <rreat  thick- 


808         <>Ll>   MEXICO  AXI)   UKR   LOST  PROVIXVES. 

iioss,  ill  order  that,  thongli  outside  and  inside  crumble  ••(T, 
there  may  be  a  good  deal  left.  Like  a  number  of  other 
thinji^s,  it  stands  very  well  while  not  assailed;  and  in  this 
climate  it  is  rarely  assailed  by  violent  extremes  of  tem- 
peiatni'c. 

The  typical  adobe  house  of  tlie  best  class  is  stuccoed 
and  whitewashed.  It  is  lari^e  on  the  ground,  two  stories 
in  height,  and  has  verandas.  Again,  it  is  of  but  one  story, 
with  an  intei-ior  court-yard.  It  has  green  doors  and  shut- 
ters, and  green,  turned  posts,  in  what  we  now  call  the 
"Queen  Aiine  style,"  and  it  is  comfortable  and  home- 
like to  look  at. 

One  of  tiiem  contains  the  first  piano  ever  introduced 
into  California,  and  the  owners  are  people  who  made  haste 
to  sell  out  their  all  at  San  Francisco  and  invest  it  here,  in  or- 
der to  reap  the  greater  prosperity  which  was  thought  to  be 
waiting  upon  Monterey.  Two  old  iion  giius stand  planted 
as  posts  at  the  corners  of  the  dwelling.  In  front  of  others 
are  some  walks  neatly  niade  of  the  verterbrse  of  whales, 
taken  by  the  Monterey  Whaling  Company.  The  com- 
pany is  a  band  of  hardy,  weather-beaten  men,  chief! 3'  Por- 
tuguese, of  the  Azores,  who  have  a  lookout  station  on  the 
hill  by  tlie  ruined  fort,  and  a  barracks  lower  down.  They 
pursue  their  avocation  from  the  shore  in  boats,  with 
plenty  of  adventure  and  no  small  profit. 

Monterey,  which  is  now  not  even  a  county  seat,  was 
the  Spanish  capital  of  the  province  from  the  time  it  was 
thought  necessary  to  have  a  capital.  The  missionary  fa- 
ther, Junipero  Serra,  came  here  from  Mexico  in  the  year 
1770.  It  was  next  a  Mexican  capital  under  eleven  suc- 
cessive governors.  Then  it  became  the  American  capital, 
the  first  port  of  entry,  the  scene  of  the  first  Constitutional 
Convention  of  the  State,  and  an  outfitting  point  for  the 
southern    mines.     Money    in    those    early    days    was    so 


THE  VIXTAGE  SEASON,  AND  MONTEREY.  809 


370         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 

plenty,  I  liavc  heard  tell,  that  store -keepers  hardly 
stopped  to  count  it,  but  threw  it  under  the  counter  in 
bushel  fills. 

A  secret  belief  in  the  ultimate  revival  of  Monterey 
seems  always  to  survive  in  certain  quarters,  like  that  in 
the  reappearance  of  Barbarossa  from  the  Ivylfhiiuser 
Berg,  or  the  restoration  of  the  Jews.  Breakwaters  have 
been  ambitiously  talked  of,  and  it  is  said  that  the  bay 
could  be  made  a  harbor  and  shipping-point  and  tiie  rival 
of  San  Francisco. 

The  only  step  toward  such  revival  as  yet  is  a  fine  hotel, 
built  by  the  Southern  Pacific  railroad,  which  may  make 
it,  instead  of  Santa  Cruz,  across  the  Bay,  the  leading  sea- 
side resort.  Though  not  so  grandiose  a  direction  as  some 
others,  this  is  really  the  one  in  which  the  peculiar  condi- 
tions of  the  old  caj)ital  are  most  likely  to  tell.  The  sum- 
mer boarder  can- get  a  tangible  pleasure  out  of  its  historic 
remains  and  traditions  of  greatness,  though  they  be  good 
for  nothing  else.  The  Hotel  del  Monte  is  a  beautiful 
edifice,  not  surpassed  by  that  of  any  American  watering- 
place,  and  unequalled  in  the  charming  groves  of  live-oak 
and  pine  and  profusion  of  cultivated  flowers  by  whicli  it 
is  surrounded,  and  the  air  of  comfort  combined  with  its 
elegant  arrangements. 

This  is  the  way  with  our  friends  of  the  Pacific  coast. 
If  they  do  not  always  stop  to  follow  Eastern  ideas  and 
patterns,  when  they  really  attempt  something  in  the  same 
line,  they  are  as  likely  as  not  to  do  it  a  great  deal  better. 

The  climate  at  Monterey,  according  to  statistical  tables, 
is  remarkably  even.  The  mean  temperature  is  52°  in 
January  and  58°  in  July.  This  strikes  one  as  rather  cool 
for  bathing,  but  the  mode  is  to  bathe  in  the  tanks  of  a 
large  bath-house,  to  which  sea-water  is  introduced,  arti- 
ficially warmed,  instead  of  in  the  sea  itself. 


THE   VLXTAGE  ISEASOX,  AND  MOXTEREY.  373 


CLIFKS    AND    FOREST    AT    MONTEREY. 


In  otlier  respects  the  place  seems  nearly  as  desirable  at 
otic  time  of  the  year  as  another.  The  quaint  town  is 
always  there;  and  the  wild  rocks,  with  their  i^ossiping 
gulls  and  pelicans;  and  the  drives  through  the  extensive 
forests.  There  ai'e  varieties  of  pine  and  cypress — the 
latter  like  the  Italian  stone-pine— peculiar  to  Monterey. 


374         OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  rUUVhWES. 

The  more  venerable  trees,  hoary  with  age  and  hanging 
moss,  are  contorted  into  all  the  fantastic  shapes  of  Dore's 
"  Inferno."  They  grow  by  preference  on  the  most  savage 
points  of  rock,  and  the  wild  breakers  toss  handfals  of 
spray  up  to  them  high  in  the  air,  in  amity  and  greeting. 

Along  the  beach  on  this  far-away  point  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  we  find  a  Chinese  fishir)g  settlement.  Veritable 
Celestials,  without  a  word  of  English  among  them,  have 
pasted  the  usual  crimson  papers  of  hieroglyphics  on  shan- 
ty residences.  They  burn  tapers  before  their  gods  on  the 
rocks,  and  fish  for  a  living  in  just  such  junks  and  small 
boats  as  may  be  seen  at  Hong-Kong  and  Canton.  They 
prepare  avallonia  meat  and  avallonia  shells  for  their  home 
market.  One  had  rather  thought  of  the  Chinese  element 
as  confined  to  San  Francisco  alone,  but  it  is  a  feature  of 
quaint  interest  throughout  all  of  Southern  California. 

At  Monterey  is  found  an  old  mission  of  the  delight- 
fully ruinous  sort.  It  is  in  the  little  Carmel  Valley, 
which  is  bare  and  brown  again,  after  the  green  woods 
are  passed,  four  miles  from  the  town.  The  mission  fa- 
thers once  had  here  ninety  thousand  cattle,  and  other 
things  to  correspond.  There  are  now  only  some  vestiges, 
resembling  earth -works,  of  their  extensive  adobe  walls, 
and,  on  a  rise  overlooking  the  sea,  the  yellowish,  low, 
rococo  church  of  San  Carlos. 

The  Mexican  traditions  in  design  and  proportion  ac- 
companied them  here,  but  the  workmanship  as  they  went 
farther  from  home  became  curiously  rude,  and  speaks  of 
the  disadvantages  under  which  it  was  done.  A  dome  of 
concrete  on  the  bell-tower  is  unequally  bulged ;  a  star  win- 
dow in  the  front  has  very  irregular  points.  The  interior 
does  not  yield,  as  a  picture  of  sentimental  ruin,  to  Muck- 
ross  Abbey  or  any  broken  temple  of  the  Koman  Cam- 
pagna.     The  roof,  open  now  to  the  sky,  with  grasses  and 


THE  VINTAGE  SEASON,  AND  MONTEREY.  375 


37<')         <)[.[>   MEXICO  AXD    HER   LOST  PROVIXCES. 

wild  tiinstanl  growiii*^  from  its  crevices,  was  of  stone 
arches,  supplemented  witii  timber-work  tied  with  raw- 
liides.  The  vvhole  body  of  the  church — pilasters,  capi- 
tals, frieze,  and  all — is  set  on  a  curve  springing  from 
the    floor  —  a  peculiarity  I  have  never  seen   elsewhere. 


SAN    CAKLOs'ti-DAY    AT    THE    OLD    MISSION. 


There  ai'e  grasses  growing  witliiii,  stnilptni'cd  stones 
tumbled  down,  vestiges  of  a  tile  pavement,  tombs,  bits 
of  fresco,  and  over  all  the  autograph  scribblings  of  a 
myriad  of  A.  B.  Smiths  and  J.  B.  Joneses,  visitors  here 
in  their  time  like  ourselves. 


THE   VINTAGE  SEASON,  AND  MONTEREY.  379 

Once  a  year,  on  St.  Charlcs\s-daj,  in  early  Noveni])er, 
a  nienioi'ial  service  is  held,  attended  by  all  the  shabby 
Spanish -Indian  life  reinaiiiiiig  in  the  country  round 
about.  The  place  is  nnique.  It  seems  even  more  lone- 
ly than  ruins  of  the  same  kind  in  the  mother  country, 
through  standing  amid  surroundings  of  such  a  different 
class.  Nothing  is  more  conducive  to  pensiveness  of  a 
pleasant  kind  than,  lying  within  this  ruined  enclosure,  to 
watch  the  wavini::  in  the  wind  of  the  lonj"-  o-nisses  on  its 
walls  and  listen  to  the  plash  of  the  sea  on  the  shore,  but 
a  few  steps  distant. 


380         OLD  MEXICO  AM)   IIKU  LOST  rROVhWEiS. 


XXVI. 

A    WONDROUS  VALLEY,  AND  A    DESERT  THAT  BLOSSOMS 
LAKE   THE  ROSE. 


The  Yoseniite,  cuiTcntlj  spokoii  of  ms  the  "Valley,"  is 
comprised  in  the  belt  formed  \>y  drawinii'  lines  across  the 
State  from  San  Francisco  and  Monterey  I'espectivelj.  It 
is  a  wild,  strange  nook  among  the  Sierras,  one  of  the 
few  places  not  only  not  disappointing,  but  worthy  of  far 
more  praise  than  has  ever  been  bestowed  upon  it.  It  is 
like  one  of  those  mysterious  regions  on  the  outskirts  of 
the  fairy-land  of  the  story-books — a  standing  resource  of 
adventure  to  all  the  characters  who  enter  it,  and  it  is 
])roper  enough  that  our  eaithly  Pai'adise  of  Southern 
California  should  have  such  a  region  of  enchantment 
also  adjoining  it. 

I  reached  it  by  stage-ride  of  sixty  miles,  fi'om  the  South- 
ern Pacific  Hailroad,  at  Madera,  to  Clai-k's  Station,  and 
thence  by  stage  and  horseback  of  twenty-five  miles  to  the 
Vallej'.  The  autumn  days  were  lovely  there.  The  foli- 
age, turned  by  a  local  climate  quite  as  severe  as  that  of 
New  England,  glowed  with  a  vivid  richness.  The  Mer- 
ced River,  a  gentle  stream,  pursuing  a  devious  way  in 
the  bottoin,  which  is  as  level  as  a  floor,  reflected  the 
color  from  many  a  mirror-like  pool  and  sudden  bend. 
Walls  of  rock  rise  on  either  hand  to  an  elevation  of 
three-quarters  of   a  mile,  varying  from  one-half  to  one- 


A    WONDROUS   VALLEY.  381 

eiglitli  of  a  mile  in  width.  It  is  rather  a  chasm  than  a 
valle}'.  At  night  the  radiance  of  a  full  j'ellow  moon  in- 
vested all  its  wonders  with  an  added  enchantment.  The 
cliffs  are  exactly  what  we  think  cliffs  onght  to  be,  but 
what  they  seldom  are.  The}'  are  of  the  hardest  granite, 
pleasantly  gray  in  color,  and  terminate  in  castle  and  dome 
like  forms.  Tlie  precipices  are  sheer  and  unbroken  to  the 
base,  with  almost  none  of  those  slopes  of  debris  that  de- 
ti-act  from  precipices  in  general.  It  is  a  little  valley  suit- 
able, without  a  hair's-breadth  alteration,  to  the  purposes 
of  any  giant,  enchanter,  or  yellow  dwarf  of  them  all.  It 
is  such  scenery  as  Dore  has  imagined  for  the  "Idyls  of 
the  King."  One  lialf  feels  himself  a  Sir  Lancelot  or  Sir 
Gawain,  I'iding  along  this  lovely  and  majestic  mountain 
trail;  and  as  if  he  should  wear  chain-armor,  a  winged  hel- 
met, and  a  sword  upon  which  he  had  sworn  to  do  deeds 
of  redoubtable  valor. 

It  was  the  coast  vallej's  and  some  coast  towns  that  we 
took  on  GUI'  first  journey.  This  time  we  have  come  down 
the  main  line  of  the  Southern  Pacific  Railway  through 
the  central  plain  of  the  State.  The  railway  is  traced 
aloiiir  the  c^reat  central  vallev  known  as  the  San  Joa- 
quin,  on  a  line  nearly  midway  between  the  Sierra  Neva- 
das  and  the  Coast  Range. 

The  road  is  still  comparatively  new,  and  the  settlements 
have  attained  no  great  dimensions.  It  did  not  as  a  rule 
touch  at  the  older  towns  existing,  bnt  pursued  a  direct 
course  through  a  country  where  all  had  to  be  opened  up. 
As  some  of  tlie  places  passed  by  were  of  considerable 
size  no  little  dissatisfaction  ensued,  and  the  mutterings 
are  still  heard.  Frequent  mention  of  this  grievance 
is  heard  by  the  ti'aveller  through  Southern  California. 
Some  of  the  neglected  places  even  maintain  that  they 
would  have  been  lietlcr  without  anv  raih^ad  at  all.     Rcf- 


3S2         OLD  MEXICO  AND  llEJl  LOST  LT.OVIXCES. 

erences  are  tlirown  out  to  former  glories  of  a  dazzling 
sort  which  it  is  sometimes  difficult  to  credit,  though  a 
railroad  naturally  effects  great  innovations  in  trade.  To 
the  ordinar}^  observer  it  would  appear  that  the  introduc- 
tion of  a  splendidly  eqnijiped  railway,  even  if  it  distribute 
its  blessings  a  little  unequally  at  first,  and  its  tariff  be 
high,  must  be  a  great  and  permanent  advantage  to  every- 
thing remote  as  well  as  near.  For  the  first  time  an  ade- 
quate means  has  been  afforded  for  the  transport  of  im- 
migrants and  supplies  through  the  whole  length  of  the 
State. 

The  Southern  Pacific  Kail  way  has  completed  connec- 
tions which  give  it  a  transcontinental  route  from  San 
Francisco,  across  Arizona,  New  Mexico,  and  Texas,  to 
New  Orleans.  Immigrants  are  to  be  brought  in  by 
steamer  from  Liverpool  to  New  Orleans,  and  thence  by 
rail  at  a  rate  not  to  exceed  that  to  the  central  West.  Tlie 
fares  to  California  heretofore  have  been  almost  prohibi- 
tive, which  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  so  rich  a  country 
contains  as  yet  less  than  a  million  of  people.  The  languid 
movement  hither  of  the  valuable  class  of  immigration 
which  pours  into  the  West,  though  ascribed  by  some 
alarmists  to  the  presence  of  the  Chinese,  is  due  to  the 
cost  of  travel  and  the  lack  of  cheap  lands  for  settle- 
ment. The  Chinese  are  certainly  not  rivals  in  the  mat- 
ter of  land,  since  they  acquire  little  or  none  of  it. 

The  new  opportunities  opened  to  transportation,  the 
depression  of  the  mining  interest,  and  rapid  increase  of 
the  Chinese,  have  awakened  of  late  an  exceptional  inter- 
est in  white  immigration.  A  committee  of  some  of  the 
most  prominent  persons  in  the  State  has  opened  an  in- 
quiry into  the  most  effectual  means  of  promoting  it.  It 
will  no  doubt  set  forth  more  clearly  than  has  ever  been 
done  before  an  account  of  such  territory  as  is  open  to  set- 


A   WONDROUS  VALLEY.  3S3 

tiers,  whetlier  offei'od  by  the  government,  the  railroads, 
or  the  great  ranches,  its  advantages  and  the  methods  of 
reaching  it. 

It  8een)s  a  little  singular  at  first  that  lack  of  suitable 
lands  can  be  adduced  as  a  reason  for  lack  of  population  in 
so  vast  a  region,  with  the  climate  and  other  natural  advan- 
tages of  which  so  much  has  been  said.  It  can  only  be  un- 
derstood bj  taking  into  account  the  unusual  atmospheric 
dryness,  and  the  important  part  played  by  water,  which 
has  to  be  brought  upon  the  soil  by  costly  conti'ivances. 
The  locations  where  there  is  sufficient  natural  moisture 
for  the  maturing  of  crops  are  of  small  extent.  They  were 
among  the  iirst  taken  up.  In  much  of  the  central  and 
southern  portions  of  the  State  the  annual  i-uin-fall  is 
almost  infinitesimal  in  quantity.  At  Bakersville,  the 
capital  of  Kei'u  County — whither  our  joui'ney  presently 
leads  us — it  is  no  more  than  from  two  to  four  inches. 
Light  cro]>8  of  grain  and  pastui'age  for  stock  may  occa- 
sionallj'  be  got  even  under  these  conditions,  but  the  only 
certain  reliance  is  irrigation. 

The  springs  and  small  streams  were  early  appreciated 
at  their  value,  and  seized  upon  by  persons  who  controlled 
"with  them  great  tracts  of  surrounding  counti-y,  valueless 
except  as  watered  from  these  sources.  These  tributary 
tracts  are  used  chiefly  as  cattle  and  sheep  ranges.  A  per- 
son owning  five  thousand  acres  will  often  have  for  his 
stock  the  free  run  of  twenty  thousand  more.  Cultivation 
is  confined  to  the  springs  and  water-courses,  and  becomes 
a  succession  of  charming  oases  in  a  desert  the  superficial 
sterility  of  which  is  phenomenal. 

The  tenure  of  land  by  thousands  of  acres  under  a  sin- 
gle ownership  is  a  tradition  from  the  Spanish  and  Mexi- 
can times.  It  has  been  much  decried,  as  a  great  evil,  and 
it  is  said  tliat  the  State  wt.)uld  be  uiiifh  uinre  i>rtisper«)us 


;38J:         OLD  MEXICO  AM)  llEll  LOST  PROVLXCES. 

ill  a  series  of  small  farms.  This  is  probably  true,  and  the 
system  as  it  exists  may  be  ascribed  in  part  to  the  greed 
of  individuals,  but  it  arises  principally  out  of  the  natural 
features  of  the  country.  The  wealth  of  the  large  holders 
alone  enables  them  to  undertake  works  of  improvement, 
such  as  canal-making,  di'ainage,  and  tree-planting,  on  an 
effectual  scale.  Perhaps  the  State  will  have  to  lend  its 
assistance,  and  establish  a  public  system  of  irrigation  and 
di'aitiage,  before  the  land  can  be  fully  prepared  for  the 
small  settler. 

Water!  water!  water!  How  to  slake  the  thirst  of  this 
parched,  bi'own  country,  aiid  turn  it  over  to  honest  toil 
and  thrift,  is  the  great  problem  as  we  go  southward,  and 
the  processes  of  irrigation  are  the  most  distinctive  marks 
upon  the  landscape  wherever  it  is  improved. 

II. 

It  is  in  eady  November  that  we  begin  to  traverse  the 
long  San  Joaquin  Valley  from  Lathrop  Junction,  just  be- 
low Stockton,  southward.  The  side  tracks  of  the  railroa(i 
are  crowded  with  platform-cars  laden  with  wheat  for  the 
sea-board.  The  "elevator"  system  is  not  yet  in  use,  and 
the  grain  is  contained  in  sacks  for  convenient  handling. 

Hereabouts  are  some  of  the  most  famous  wheat  ranch- 
es. A  man  will  plough  but  a  single  furrow  a  day  on  his 
farm,  but  this  may  be  twenty  miles  long.  There  is  suffi- 
cient rain-fall  for  the  cereals,  but  not  for  the  more  exact- 
ing crops.  The  land  gives  but  few  bushels  to  the  acre 
under  the  easy  system  of  farming,  Init  it  must  be  remem- 
ijered  that  thei'e  are  a  great  many  acres.  The  stubble  of 
the  grain-fields  is  whitened  with  wild-fowl.  At  a  way- 
station  a  snuill  rustic  in  an  immense  pair  of  boots  goes 
over  to  a  ])()()1  and   hlazcs  away  with  a  shot-gun.     Prcs- 


A    WONDROUS   VALLEY.  385 

cntly  he  returns,  dragging  by  tlie  necks  an  innnense  pair 
of  wild-geese,  almost  beyond  bis  strength  to  pull.  The 
tawny  color  of  the  fields,  and  the  great  formal  stacks  of 
straw  piled  up  in  them,  recall  some  aspects  of  the  central 
table-land  of  Mexico.  Many  or  spacious  buildings  are 
not  necessary  in  tlie  mild,  dry  climate  of  California. 
The  prosperous  ranches  have,  in  consequence,  a  some- 
what thin,  unfurnished  appearance  compared  with  East- 
ern farms. 

The  most  prominent  object  at  each  station  is  a  long, 
low  warehouse  of  the  company,  for  the  accommodation  of 
grain.  Like  the  station  buildings  generally  it  is  painted 
Indian  red,  in  "  metallic  "  paint.  The  station  of  Merced 
is  one  of  the  two  principal  points  of  departure  for  the 
Yosemite  Valley,  Madera  the  other.  At  Merced  an  im- 
mense wooden  hotel,  for  travellers  bound  to  the  Valley, 
overshadows  the  rest  of  the  town.  It  rises  beside  the 
track,  and  the  town  is  scattered  back  on  the  plain. 

At  Madera  appears  the  end  of  a  V-shaped  wooden 
aqueduct,  or  flume,  for  rafting  down  lumber  from  the 
mountains  fifty  miles  away  to  a  planing-mill.  Some  of  the 
hands  also  occasionally  come  down  the  flume  in  temporary 
boats.  As  the  speed  is  prodigious  these  voyages  abound 
in  excitement  and  peril.  The  structure,  supported  on 
trestles,  according  to  the  formation  of  the  ground,  stretch- 
es away  in  interminable  perspective  to  the  mountains, 
which  are  rose-pink  and  purple  at  sunset.  The  scene  is 
suggestive  of  the  Roman  Campagna,  with  this  slight,  es- 
sentially American  work  as  a  parody  of  the  broken  aque- 
ducts and  temples  of  the  classic  ancients.  The  lumber 
flume,  however,  is  a  bold  and  costly  enterprise,  though 
we  be  prone  to  smile  at  it. 

By  degrees  we  draw  away  from  the  wheat  ranches, 
more   and   more  on  the  uncultivated  plain.     The  town 

17 


386         OLU  MEXICO    AXJJ  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  Fresno,  two  hundred  miles  below  San  Francisco,  and 
about  midway  between  two  important  streams,  the  San 
Joaquin  and  Kings  Rivers,  is  in  the  midst  of  a  particu- 
larly desolate  tract,  know'n,  up  to  a  very  recent  period,  as 
the  San  Joaquin  Desert.  One  should  alight  here.  There 
is  no  better  place  for  examining  the  marvellous  capabili- 
ties of  a  soil  which  appears  at  first  sight  inhospitable  to 
the  last  degree.  Fresno  is  in  the  hands  of  enterprising 
persons,  who  push  and  advertise  it  very  actively.  We 
heard  at  San  Francisco  of  the  Fresno  Colony,  the  Central 
Colony,  American  Colony,  Scandinavian  Colony,  Tem- 
perance Colony,  Washington  Colony,  and  others  of  simi- 
lar names  clustered  around  Fresno.  It  is  advertised  as 
one  of  those  genial  places,  alluring  to  the  imagination  of 
most  of  lis,  where  one  can  sit  down  under  his  own  vine 
and  fig-tree,  secure  from  the  vicissitudes  of  climate,  and 
find  a  profitable  occupation  open  to  him  in  the  cultiva- 
tion of  the  soil,  and  all  at  a  moderate  cost. 

The  aspect  of  things  on  alighting  is  very  different  from 
what  had  been  expected,  but  all  the  substantial  advantages 
claimed  seemed  realized,  and  the  process  of  founding  a 
home  may  be  witnessed  in  all  its  stages. 

The  town  has  a  population  of  two  thousand,  most  of 
which  it  has  gained  in  the  past  five  3'ears.  It  is  set  down 
on  the  east  side  of  the  railroad  highway,  with  a  thin  scat- 
tering of  foliage  slightly  veiling  the  formality  of  its  lines. 
It  consists  of  a  few  sti-eets  of  two-story  wooden  and  brick 
buildings.  The  streets  cross  one  another  at  nght  angles, 
and  have  planked  sidewalks.  A  slight  eminence  above 
the  general  level  is  the  site  of  the  County  Court-house, 
which  somewhat  resembles  an  Italian  villa  in  design,  and 
has  Italian  cypresses  in  front.  The  court-houses  of  half  a 
dozen  counties  down  the  line,  from  Modesto,  the  capital 
of  Stanislaus,  to  Bakersfield,  capital  of  Kern,  are  identical 


A    WOXDROUS    VALI.hJY. 


387 


couRT-norsE  at  fuks.no. 


in  pattern,  so  that  it  is  botli  typical  of  its  kind  and  evi- 
dence of  an  economical  spirit. 

A  sharp  distinctness  of  outline  is  characteristic  of  these 
cities  of  the  plain.  Separated  from  the  main  part  of 
Fresno  by  the  railroad,  as  by  a  wide  boulevard,  is  a  row 
of  low  wooden  houses  and  shops,  as  clearly  cut  out  against 


388  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  rROVlNCES. 

the  desert  as  bathiiig-bonses  on  a  beach.  This  is  the  Chi- 
nese quarter.  It  tells  at  a  glance  the  story  of  the  pecu- 
liar people  who  tenant  it:  the  social  ostracism  on  the  one 
liand,  and  their  own  indomitable  clannishness  on  the 
other. 

There  is  now  hardly  any  hamlet  so  insignificant,  even 
in  the  wastes  of  Arizona,  that  the  Chinese  have  not  pene- 
trated it,  in  seai'ch  of  labor  and  opportunities.  Every 
settlement  of  the  Pacific  slope  has  its  Chinese  quarter,  as 
mediaeval  towns  had  their  Ghetto  for  the  Jews.  It  is  not 
always  without  the  place,  as  at  Fresno ;  but,  wherever  it 
be,  it  constitutes  a  close  corporation  and  a  separate  unit. 
In  dress,  language,  and  habits  of  life  it  adheres  to  Ori- 
ental tradition  with  all  the  persistence  the  new  conditions 
will  admit. 

The  Celestials  do  not  introduce  their  own  architecture, 
and  they  build  little  but  shanties.  They  adapt  what  they 
find  to  their  own  purposes,  as  has  been  said,  distinguish- 
ing them  with  such  devices  that  the  character  of  the 
dwellers  within  cannot  be  mistaken. 

A  great  incongruity  is  felt  between  the  little  Yankee 
wooden  dwellings  and  the  tasselled  lanterns,  gilded  signs, 
and  hieroglyphics  upon  red  and  yellow  papers  with  which 
they  are  profusely  overspread.  Here  Ah  Coon  and  Sam 
Sing  keep  laundries  like  the  Chinese  laundry  the  world 
over.  Yuen  AVa  advertises  himself  as  a  contractor  for 
laborers.  Hop  Ling,  Sing  Chong,  and  a  dozen  others 
have  miscellaneous  stores.  In  their  windows  are  junk- 
shaped  slippers,  opium  pipes,  bottles  of  salH,  rice-brand}^, 
dried  fish,  goose  livers,  gold  and  silver  jewelry,  and  pack- 
ets of  face-powder  and  hair  ornaments  for  the  women. 
The  pig-tailed  merchants  themselves  sit  within,  on  odd- 
looking  chests  and  budgets,  and  gossip  in  animated  cackle 
with   customers,  or  figure  up   their  profits  gravely  in 


A    WONDROUS   VALLEY.  389 

brown-paper  books,  with  a  bi-iish  for  a  pen.  Women 
— much  more  numerous  in  ])roportion  to  the  men  than 
is  commonly  supposed — occasionally  waddle  by.  Their 
black  hair  is  very  smoothly  greased,  and  kept  in  place  by 
long  silver  pins.  They  wear  wide  jackets  and  pantaloons 
of  a  cheap  black  "  paper  cambric,"  which  increase  the  nat- 
ural awkwardness  of  their  short  and  ungainly  figures. 

Up-stairs,  in  unpaiuted,  cobwebby,  second  stories,  are 
the  joss-houses.  Here  hideous  but  decorative  idols  grin 
as  serenely  as  if  in  the  centre  of  their  native  Tartary,  and 
as  if  there  were  no  spires  of  little  Baptist  and  Methodist 
meeting-houses  rising  indignantly  across  the  way.  Pas- 
tilles burn  before  the  idols,  and  crimson  banners  are 
draped  about ;  and  there  are  usually  a  few  pieces  of  an- 
tique bronze  upon  which  the  eye  of  the  connoisseur  rests 
enviously. 

Other  interiors  are  cabarets,  which  recall  those  of  the 
French  working-classes.  A  boisterous  animation  reigns 
within.  The  air  is  tliick  with  tobacco-smoke  of  the  pecu- 
liar Chinese  odor.  Games  of  dominoes  are  played  with 
magpie-like  chatter  by  excited  groups  around  long,  wood- 
en tables.  Most  of  those  present  wear  the  customary  blue 
cotton  blouse  and  queer  little  black  soft  hat,  and  all  have 
queues,  which  either  dangle  behind  or  are  coiled  up  like 
the  hair  of  women.  Some,  however — teamsters,  perliaps 
here  only  temporarily — are  dressed  in  the  slop  clothing 
and  cowhide  boots  of  ordinary  white  laborers. 

The  Chinamen  are  servants  in  the  camps,  the  ranches, 
and  the  houses  of  tlie  better  class,  track-layers  and  section 
hands  on  the  railroad,  and  laborers  in  the  factories  and 
fields.  What  Southern  California,  or  California  gener- 
ally, could  do  without  them  it  is  difficult  to  see.  They 
seem,  for  the  most  part,  capable,  industrious,  honest,  and 
neat.    One  divests  himself  rapidly  of  the  prejudice  against 


300         OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER    LOST  I'ROVLNCES. 

tliein  with  whicli  lie  may  have  started.  Let  ns  hoj>e  tliat 
laborers  of  the  better  class,  by  whom  they  are  to  be  suc- 
ceeded, may  at  least  have  as  many  praiseworthy  traits. 

The  town  of  Fresno  is  as  yet  chiefly  a  supply  and  market 
point  for  the  numerous  colonies  by  which  it  is  environed. 
These  colonies  straggle  out  in  various  directions,  begin- 
nino;  within  a  mile  or  two  of  the  town.  The  intervenino- 
land  still  lies  in  its  natural  condition  for  settlement.  It 
is  difficult  to  convey  an  idea  of  its  seemingly  hopeless 
barrenness.  Instead  of  complaining  of  dry  grass  here  one 
would  be  grateful  for  a  blade  of  grass  of  any  kind.  The 
surface  is  as  arid  as  that  of  a  gravelled  school-yard.  It  is 
even  worse,  for  it  is  undermined  with  holes  of  gophers, 
owls,  jack-rabbits,  and  squirrels.  To  ride  at  any  speed  is 
certain  to  bring  one  to  grief  through  the  entangling  of  his 
horse's  legs  in  these  pitfalls.  As  the  traveller  passes  there 
is  a  scampering  on  all  sides.  The  gray  squirrels  speed  for 
their  holes  with  flying  leaps,  fhe  jack-rabbits  with  kanga- 
roo-like bounds.  They  run  toward  us,  if  they  chance  to 
have  been  absent  from  home  in  an  opposite  direction. 
Not  one  considers  himself  safe  from  our  clearly  malicious 
designs  till  he  has  dived  headlong  into  his  own  proper 
tenement. 

Here  and  there  are  tracts  white  with  alkali.  Flakes  of 
this  substance,  at  once  bitter  and  salt  to  the  taste,  can  be 
taken  up  in  an  almost  pure  condition.  Elsewhere  we  pass 
through  tracts  of  wild  sunflower — a  tall  weed,  charming 
in  flower,  but  now  thoroughly  desiccated,  and  rattling  to- 
gether like  dry  bones. 

This  description  applies,  for  the  greater  part  of  the 
year,  not  only  to  Fresno,  but  in  an  almost  equal  degree 
to  Bakersfield,  Los  Angeles,  and  nearly  the  whole  of 
Southern  California.  Without  it  the  wonders  which 
have  been  produced  by  human  agency  could  not  be  un- 


A    WONDROUS    VALLEY.  391 

dei'stood.  The  face  of  nature  in  all  this  district  was  a 
l)lank  sheet  of  paper.  The  cultivator  had  absolutely 
everything  to  do.  He  discovered  on  trial  that  he  had  a 
soil  of  I'einarkable  capacit}',  and,  with  the  aid  of  water 
and  the  genial  climate,  he  could  draw  from  it  whatever 
he  pleased. 

Water  is  the  salvation  of  the  waste  places,  and  makes 
tl>€  desert  blossom  like  the  rose.  One's  respect  for  this 
pleasant  element  is,  if  possible,  increased  upon  seeing 
what  it  is  here  capable  of.  It  seems  that,  if  used  with 
sufficient  art,  it  might  almost  dra\7  a  crop  from  cast-iron. 
The  vegetation  of  Southern  California  is  thoroughly  arti- 
ficial. It  consists  of  a  series  of  scattered  plantations  cre- 
ated by  the  use  of  water.  In  these  the  traveller  finds  his 
flowers,  palms,  vineyards,  and  orange  groves,  and,  burying 
himself  among  them,  like  the  ostrich  with  its  head  in  the 
sand,  he  may  refuse  briefly  to  recognize  that  there  is 
anything  else ;  but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  onl}^  a  small  be- 
ginning has  been  made.  What  has  been  done,  however, 
is  an  earnest  of  what  can  be  done.  It  is  found  that, 
as  irrigation  is  practised,  the  land  stores  up  part  of  the 
water,  and  less  is  needed  each  year.  In  wells,  too,  the 
water  is  found  nearer  the  surface,  proving  that  the  soil 
acts  as  a  natural  reservoir.  As  tin^e  goes  on,  and  canals 
and  vegetation  increase,  no  doubt  important  climatic 
changes  may  be  looked  for.  In  the  end  Southern  Cal- 
ifornia may  be  as  diffei'ent  from  wliat  it  is  at  present  as 
can  be  imagined.         / 

The  several  Fresno  colonies  for  the  most  part  join  one 
another,  and  form  a  continuous  belt  of  cultivation.  On 
entering  their  confines  the  change  is  most  agreeable. 
Close  along-side  the  desert,  the  home  of  the  gopher  and 
jack-rabbit,  only  separated  from  it  by  a  narrow  ditch  of 
running  water,' are  lovely  vineyards,  orchards  of  choice 


392         OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  mOVINCES. 

fruits,  ornamental  flowers  and  shrubs,  avenues  of  shade- 
trees,  fields  of  corn,  and  green  pastures  of  the  alfalfa,  a 
tall  and  strong  clover,  which  gives  half  a  dozen  crops  a 
year.  Embowered  among  these  are  the  homes  of  happy 
families,  larger  esta])lishments  for  the  drying  of  fruits 
and  converting  the  munificent  crops  of  grapes  into  wine. 
Many  of  the  homes  are  as  yet  but  modest  wooden  cot- 
tages. Others,  of  a  better  class,  are  of  adobe,  treated  in 
an  ornamental  way,  with  piazzas  and  Gothic  gables. 

The  most  important  residence  is  that  of  a  late  member 
of  the  San  Francisco  Sj;ock  Board,  who  has  gone  into  the 
cultivation  of  grapes  here  on  a  large  scale.  It  is  a  hand- 
some villa  that  would  do  credit  to  any  town.  The  im- 
provements of  the  Barton  place  were  in  but  an  incipient 
state  at  the  time  of  our  visit.  A  great  array  of  young 
vines  brightened  the  recently  sterile  soil,  but  timidly  and 
as  if  not  quite  certain  of  approval.  Young  orange  and 
lemon  trees  in  the  door-yard  were  muffled  in  straw  till  they 
should  have  gained  a  greater  hardihood  to  withstand  the 
frosts.  Elsewhere  water  was  being  run  out  from  irrigat- 
ing ditches  over  fields  in  preparation  for  the  first  time. 
It  is  the  custom  to  soak  them,  in  order  that  they  may  be 
perfectly  levelled.  Knolls  or  any  otlier  inequalities  must 
not  be  left  to  hinder  the  equal  distribution  of  water  to  the 
crop.  A  wide  canal  stretched  back  from  the  numerous 
out-buildings  toward  the  horizon.  On  the  verge  of  the 
wide  plain  showed  the  blue  Sierras,  veiled  by  a  slight 
chronic  dustiness  of  the  atmosphere. 

In  the  more  established  portions  of  the  colonies  some 
charming  bits  of  landscape  are  found.  The  Chinese  farm- 
hand wears  a  blue  blouse  and  a  wide  basket-hat  which  he 
calls  7now.  He  pronounces  this  hat  "  heap  good  "  if  com- 
plimented upon  it.  He  prunes  the  vines  or  collects  the 
generous  clusters  of  grapes;  or  else  he  digs  a  vegetable 


A   WONDROUS  VALLEY. 


393 


394  OLD  MEXICO  AND   II Eli  LOST  PROVINCES. 

garden  by  the  side  of  a  canal,  in  which  himself,  Ins  vege- 
tables, his  cabin,  a  row  of  poplar-trees,  and  the  blue  sky 
overhead  are  all  reflected  together.  Poplars,  willows,  and 
cottonwoods  are  planted  along  the  canals  to  strengthen 
their  banks.  At  Eisen's  wine-making  place,  for  a  consid- 
erable distance,  oleanders  in  flower  are  seen  spaced  be- 
tween the  trees.  The  water  runs  clear  and  swift.  At 
Eisen's  it  turns  a  mill.  No  doubt  devices  for  bathing  in 
it  might  also  be  contrived  if  desired. 

The  long,  symmetrical  lines  of  trees  have  a  foreign,  or 
at  least  un-American,  air.  It  is  not  difficult  to  recall  to 
mind  the  mulberries  and  elms  that  bend  over  the  irrigat- 
ing canals  of  Northern  Italy  and  drop  their  yellow  leaves 
upon  them  in  autumn  like  these.  It  might  bp  Lombardy 
again,  and  the  glimpses  of  distant  blue  the  Alps  instead 
of  the  Sierras.  The  locks  and  gates  for  the  water  are  of 
an  ephemeral  structure  as  yet,  made  of  planking  instead 
of  substantial  brick  and  stone.  The  smaller  ditches  are 
often  stopped  with  mere  bits  of  board  let  down  into 
grooves,  instead  of  gates  with  handles.  It  is  urged,  how- 
ever, that  handles  offer  inducement  to  idlers  to  lift  them 
up  out  of  pure  mischief,  and  waste  the  water. 

The  colonies  are  not  quite  colonies  in  the  usual  sense; 
that  is  to  say,  they  were  not  founded  by  persons  who  com- 
bined together  and  came  at  one  and  the  same  time.  The 
lands  they  occupy  were  distributed  into  parcels  by  an 
original  owner,  and,  after  being  provided  with  water  fa- 
cilities by  an  irrigation  company,  put  upon  the  market  at 
the  disposal  of  whoever  would  buy.  Ko  doubt  a  certain 
general  consistency  rules  them  in  keeping  with  the  names 
respectively  set  up,  but  it  is  not  rigorous.  Probably  noth- 
ing need  prevent  a  native  American  from  joining  the 
Scandinavian  Colony,  or  a  Scandinavian  the  American 
Colony,  should  he  desire  to  do  so. 


A   WONDROUS   VALLEY.  395 

As  to  the  Temperance  Colony,  it  must  be  sorely  tried 
in  a  locality  the  most  liberal  and  profitable  yield  of  which 
is  the  wine  grape.  It  seems  hardly  a  propitious  place  to 
have  chosen.  Scoffers  say  that  in  some  instances  while 
settlers  will  not  make  wine  themselves  they  will  sell  their 
grapes  to  the  wine-making  establishments.  This  I  merely 
note  as  "  important,  if  true." 

The  standard  twenty-acre  lot,  as  prepared  for  market  at 
Fresno,  has  its  main  irrigating  ditch,  of  perliaps  four  feet 
in  width,  connecting  with  the  general  irrigating  system. 
For  twelve  and  a  half  dollars  a  year  it  receives  a  water- 
right  entitling  it  to  the  use  of  whatever  water  it  may 
need.  The  buyer  must  make  his  own  minor  ditches,  and 
prepare  his  ground  from  this  point.  He  usually  aims  to 
establish  in  his  fields  a  number  of  slightly  differing  levels, 
that  the  water  may  be  led  to  one  after  tlie  other.  For 
ground  in  the  preliminary  condition  described  about  fifty 
dollars  per  acre  is  demanded.  Most  of  the  earlier  settlers 
bought  for  less,  and  the  price  named  strikes  one  as  high, 
considering  the  newness  of  the  country,  and  the  excellent 
farming  land  to  be  had  in  the  older  parts  of  the  country 
for  less.  Prices  are  less  here,  however,  than  at  Los  An- 
geles, Riverside,  or  San  Diego,  farther  south. 

It  is  argued  in  answer  to  objectors  that  though  land  be 
not  nominally  it  is  really  cheap,  in  consideration  of  its  ex- 
traordinary productiveness.  It  is  held  that  an  investment 
here  gives  better  returns  than  anywhere,  and  at  the  same 
time  that  the  climate  and  other  conditions  promise  a  more 
pleasurable  existence  than  could  be  enjoyed  elsewhere. 
This  Fresno  land,  for  instance,  yields  four  and  five  crops 
of  alfalfa  a  year.  Vineyards  planted  but  two  and  a  half 
years  are  shown  which  produce  five  tons  of  grapes  to  the 
acre.  Five  years  is  the  period  required  for  the  vines  to 
come  into  full  l)earino;'.     It  is  estimated  that  an  acre  of 


396         OLD  MEXICO  AND  II ER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

vines  in  that  condition  will  have  cost  one  hundred  and 
twenty-five  dollars,  allowing  fifty  dollars  as  the  price  of 
the  ground,  and  it  is  then  counted  upon  for  an  annual 
yield  of  ten  tons  of  grapes,  at  twenty  dollars  a  ton.  The 
rate  of  growth  in  vegetation  is  one  of  the  things  to  note. 
Fruit-trees  are  said  to  advance  as  far  in  three  years  as  in 
seven  on  the  Eastern  sea-board. 

The  personal  stories  of  the  colonists  are  often  interest- 
ing. They  have  generally  had  some  previous  hard  expe- 
rience of  the  world.  Such  a  man,  working  sturdily  in  the 
field  preparing  the  ground  around  a  new  cottage  of  his 
own,  lost  a  fortune  in  the  San  Francisco  Stock  Board. 
The  funds  for  his  present  enterprise  w^ere  provided  by 
his  wife,  who  had  turned  to  keeping  boarders,  and  sent 
him  her  small  profits  monthly  until  he  should  have  made 
ready  a  place  for  their  joint  occupancy.  Instances  were 
heard  of  where  nice  properties  had  been  secured  with 
no  other  original  capital  than  a  pair  of  brawny  hands. 
These,  how^ever,  were  exceptional.  The  country  appears 
to  be  one  where  it  is  most  desirable  for  the  new-comer  to 
have  a  small  capital. 

In  the  Central  Colony  a  comfortable  estate  was  owned 
by  four  spinster  school-teachers  of  San  Francisco.  They 
had  combined  to  purchase  eighty  acres.  One  of  them 
lived  on  the  place  and  managed  it.  The  others  contrib- 
uted from  their  earnings  until  it  had  reached  a  paying 
basis,  passed  only  their  vacations  there  at  present,  but 
looked  forward  to  making  it  their  ultimate  retreat. 

The  idea  seems  both  a  praiseworthy  new  departure  in 
the  direction  of  female  emancipation  and  charming  in  it- 
self. I  had  the  pleasnre  of  making  the  acquaintance  of 
the  resident  manager  of  the  experiment.  Her  experi- 
ences, written  out,  would,  I  think,  be  interesting  and  in- 
structive.    There  was  an  open  piano  in  the  pleasant  cot- 


A   WONDROUS   VALLEY.  397 

tage  interior,  and  lute  books  and  magazines  were  scattered 
about.  It  was  a  bit  of  I'etined  civilization  dropped  down 
in  the  midst  of  the  desert. 

This  ladj  had  come,  she  said,  for  rest.  She  took  pleas- 
ure, too,  in  the  country,  and  in  seeing  things  grow.  Siie 
liad  made  mistakes  in  her  management  at  first,  mainly 
through  trusting  too  much  to  otliers,  but  now  had  things 
in  good  control.  Four  farm-hands — Chinamen — were 
employed.  The  eighty  acres  were  distributed  into  vine- 
yard, orchard,  and  alfalfa,  about  one-half  devoted  to  the 
vineyard.  Its  product  Avas  turned,  not  into  wine,  but  rai- 
sins. Apricots  and  nectarines  had  been  found  up  to  this 
time  the  most  profitable  orchard  fruits.  Almonds  were 
less  so,  owing  to  the  loss  of  time  in  husking  them  for 
market.  There  was  among  other  crops  a  field  of  Egyp- 
tian corn,  a  variety  which  grows  tall  and  slender,  and  runs 
up  to  a  bushy  head  instead  of  forming  ears.  The  sight 
of  it  carried  one  back  to  the  Biblical  story  of  Josei)h  and 
his  brethren,  and  the  })icture-writing  in  the  Pyramids. 

The  grapes  for  raisin-making  are  of  the  sweet  Muscat 
variety.  There  was  a  "raisin-house"  piled  full  of  the 
flat  boxes  in  which  raisins  are  traditionally  packed.  The 
process  of  raisin -making  is  very  simple.  The  bunches 
of  grapes  are  cut  from  the  vines,  and  laid  in  tra3'S  in 
the  open  fields.  They  are  left  there,  properly  turned 
at  intervals,  for  a  matter  of  a  fortnight.  There  are 
neither  rains  nor  dews  to  dampen  them  and  delay  the 
curing.  Then  they  are  removed  to  an  airy  building 
known  as  a  "sweat-house,"  where  they  remain  possibly 
a  month,  till  the  last  vestiges  of  moisture  are  gone. 
Hence  they  go  to  be  packed  and  shipped  to  market. 

One  must  walk  rather  gingerly  at  present  not  to  dis- 
cern through  the  young  and  scattering  plantations  the 
bareness  beyond,  but  in  another  ten  years  the  scene  can 


398         OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

liardly  fail  to  be  one  of  rich  luxuriance.  The  site  is  flat 
and  prairie-like,  and  I  should  prefer,  for  my  part,  to  locate 
my  earthly  Paradise  nearer  the  hills.  Still,  the  taste  of 
the  time  runs  to  earthly  Paradises  which  are  at  the  same 
time  shrewd  commercial  ventures,  and  the  cultivation  of 
the  plain  is  much  easier  than  that  of  the  slopes. 


VISAIJA,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC.  399 


I 


XXVII. 

VISALIA,  BAKERSFIELD,  AND  LIFE  ON  A  SPACIOUS  RANCH. 


ViSALiA,  capital  of  Tulare  County,  thirty -four  miles 
soutli  of  Fresno,  is  one  of  the  older  towns  left  aside  by 
the  railroad.  1  put  it  in  the  most  obvious  way,  but  a 
patriotic  Visalian,  on  the  other  hand,  said  to  me  with 
warmth,  "Left  by  tlie  railroad  !  Visalia  left  by  the  rail- 
road !  I  guess  not.  It  is  the  railroad  that  is  left  by 
Visalia,  as  it  will  find  out." 

Visalia  is  reached,  from  the  junction  of  Goshen,  by  a 
short  branch-road  of  its  own.  It  is  larger  than  Fresno, 
but  less  animated.  It  has  perhaps  twentj'-five  hundred 
people,  a  court-house  of  the  pattern  described,  and  a 
United  States  land-office. 

When  the  epithet  "  old  "  is  used  of  any  California  town 
not  of  Spanish  origin  it  simply  means  an  approximation 
to  the  year  1849.  The  building  of  most  hoary  antiquity 
in  Visalia  dates  only  from  the  year  1852.  It  has  been 
government-house,  jail,  and  store  in  turn,  and  is  now 
decorated  with  the  legend  "  Mooney's  Brewery."  The 
town  was  founded  by  one  Vise,  an  erratic  pei'son,  who 
came  across  the  plains  from  Texas,  and  had  followed  in 
his  life  such  various  professions,  besides  that  of  pioneer, 
as  preacher,  trader,  gambler,  foot-racer,  and  jockey.  It 
happened  that  the  quarter  section  of  land  upon  which  he 
settled  was  at  the  time  unsurvoyed,  and  not  legally  open 


400 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


FIRST    UriLDlNG    IN    VISAHA. 


to  pre-emption. 
This  irregularity 
was  not  discov- 
ered till  years 
later,  when  the 
town  had  grown 
up  on  the  site. 
It  was  brought  to 
light  by  an  em- 
ploj'e  of  the  land- 
otiice,  who  there- 
upon ingeniously 
undertook  to  pre- 
empt the  ground 
for  himself. 
"  And  what  came  of  this  bold  attempt  upon  vested  in- 
terests ?" 

"  The  party  was  promptly  fired  out  of  town,"  was  the 
reply. 

Yisalia  is  rather  prolific  in  stories,  if  an  "old-timer" 
of  the  right  sort  can  be  stirred  up  to  tell  them.  Cattle 
kings,  whose  herds  once  filled  the  San  Joaquin  Valley, 
have  retired  hither.  You  may  hear  how  Cattle  King 
"  Pat  Murray  "  won  his  wife.  She  was  a  fascinating 
person  in  her  youth,  the  daughter  of  a  landlady  with 
whom  Pat  Murray,  then  struggling  and  impecunious, 
boarded,  in  company  with  numerous  mates.  There  was 
great  aspiration  and  rivalry  for  her  hand,  Pat  Murray 
stole  a  march  in  this  wise.  As  they  were  setting  off  in 
company  on  an  expedition  he  said,  "The  trip  is  a  rough 
and  dangerous  one,  boys.  I  propose  that  we  leave  our 
money  and  valuables  with  the  old  lady  for  safe-keeping." 
The  rest  agreed,  and  handed  over  to  him  their  property 
to  deliver  to  her.     The  shrewd  Pat  Murray  represented 


VIS  A  LI  A,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC. 


401 


it  all  as  liis  OM'n,  and  obtained  in  this  way  snch  consider- 
ation in  her  eyes — as  a  person  exceptionally  well-to-do  in 
the  world — that  she  advised  her  danghter  to  "set  her 
cap"  at  him,  and  all  was  happily  accomplished  before 
the  7nise  was  discovered. 

On  another  occasion — whether  in  this  same  courtship 
or  not  the  chronicles  do  not  say — Pat  Murray  disposed  of 
rivals,  who  visited  in  the  evenings  a  comely  damsel  of 
tlie  general  acquaintance,  by  soft-soaping  the  log  serving 
as  approach  to  her  cabin  across  a  small  stream.  Having 
thus  arranged,  he 
sat  calmly  enjoy- 
ing the  fair  one's 
society,  and  lis- 
tening with  ap- 
preciative ear  to 
the  splash  of  the 
successive  victims 
as  they  slid  off 
iM©  the  water. 
/'Stories  are  told 
of  Spanish  ban- 
dits and  treasure 
of  precious  met- 
als in  the  mount- 
ains, and  of  the 
wild  administra- 
tion of  justice  in 
early  times,  when 
offenders  wei-e 
occasionally  exe- 
cuted first  and 
sentenced  after- 
ward. 


AN    OLD-TIMER. 


402         OLD  MEXICO  AXI)  HER  LOST  rilOVIXCES. 

Tlie  first  treasurer  of  the  county  is  said  to  have  carried 
the  records  of  his  office  in  his  hat,  and,  being  a  person 
given  to  travel  and  of  an  absent  mind,  lie  scattered  these 
documents  far  and  wide  behind  him,  even  to  the  confines 
of  Utah  and  Arizona. 

At  Visalia  I  first  observed  "  Spanishtown,"  a  commu- 
nity which  begins  to  appear  regularly  alongside  of  "China- 
town" as  we  go  southward.  It  is  composed  of  persons 
of  Mexican  blood,  poor,  shiftless,  and  not  always  of  the 
most  reputable  character. 

Charming  views  of  tiie  high  Sierras,  now  powdered 
with  the  first  snows  of  winter,  are  had.  The  surface  is 
inore  rolling  than  at  Fresno,  and  strewn  with  fine  clumps 
of  chestnut-oaks.  There  are  big  trees  back  in  the  great 
mountains  equalling  in  size  those  of  the  Yosemite. 
Lumbermen  at  work  there  cut  down  numbers  which, 
though  insignificant  as  compared  to  the  very  largest, 
are  monstrous  in  themselves. 

The  water  for  the  irrigation  of  this  district  is  drawn 
out  of  Kings,  Tule,  and  Kaweah  rivers  by  companies, 
who  give  to  their  principal  canals  such  names  as  the 
People's  Ditch,  the  Last  Chance  Ditch,  the  Mussel 
Slough  Ditch,  and  the  Lower  Kings  River  Ditch.  The 
main  ditches  or  canals  range  from  twelve  to  forty  feet 
in  width.  Wing  dams  confine  and  direct  into  them  such 
portions  as  are  desired  of  the  wide,  meandering  rivers. 

A  California  river  of  the  south  is  something  of  a 
curiosity.  Extravagantly  wide,  it  is  in  compensation 
preposterously  shallow.  Only  a  few  last  over  the  dry 
season  at  all ;  the  most  evaporate  and  wholly  disappear. 
Their  dry  beds,  variegated  by  a  few  islets  studded  with 
sycamores,  are  more  like  wagon-roads  than  the  beds  of 
rivers.  Sometimes  these  exhausted  water-courses  differ 
in  color  from  the  surrounding  soil,  and  are  seen  stretch- 


I 


VISALIA,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC. 


403 


-  ,    -=-»*^   •4*-  ^ 
LOGGING,   BACK    OF    VISALIA. 


404         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

ing  as  rivers  of  gray  or  silvcrj  sand  through  the  general 
yellow  of  the  desert. 

Though  irrigation  be  yet  in  its  infancy  its  belongings 
have  attained  great  dimensions.  Tiiere  are  three  hun- 
dred miles  of  canals  of  the  requisite  size  in  Tulare 
County,  and  more  than  three  thousand  miles  in  Califor- 
nia all  together.  One  main  canal,  that  of  the  San  Joa- 
quin and  Kings  River,  has  a  length  of  seventy-four  miles 
and  a  width  of  nearly  seventy  feet. 


II. 

A  branch-road  westward  from  Goshen,  a  continuation 
of  that  from  Visalia,  conveys  the  traveller  to  the  bus- 
tling, fast-growing  little  towns  of  Hanford  and  Lemoore, 
in  the  Mussel  Slough  country.  This  district,  adjoining 
Tulare  Lake,  was  recently  part  desert  and  part  swamp. 
It  has  been  redeemed  so  as  to  rank  now  among  the  best 
farming  land  in  California.  Its  chief  product  is  wheat. 
The  inhabitants  raise  hardly  the  vegetables  needed  for 
their  own  use.  Malaria  is  rather  prevalent,  but  it  is  said 
to  arise,  as  in  many  other  irrigated  districts,  from  the 
careless  use  of  water  rather  than  the  fundamental  situa- 
tion. The  water,  instead  of  being  carefully  drained  off, 
is  too  often  allowed  to  lie  in  stagnant  pools. 

The  Mussel  Slough  was  the  scene,  in  the  month  of 
May,  1880,  of  a  bloody  conflict  between  the  settlers  and 
railroad  authorities  which  has  become  celebrated.  Offi- 
cers of  the  law,  acting  for  new  claimants,  attempted  to 
take  possession  of  the  land  under  a  railroad  title.  Le- 
gally in  the  wrong,  though  perhaps  morally  in  the  right, 
the  settlers  organized  to  resist,  put  out  stirring  manifes- 
toes, which  read  like  the  declarations  of  oppressed  people 
struggling  for  their  liberty,  and  called  on  gods  and  men 


VIS  ALIA,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC.  405 

to  witness  the  justice  of  their  cause.  In  the  fight  that 
ensued  tive  settlers  lost  their  lives,  all  at  the  hands  of  a 
single  man — one  Crowe,  a  United  States  marshal,  who 
displaj'ed  a  prowess  and  coolness  under  fire  never  sur- 
passed in  any  of  the  narratives  of  sensational  literature. 
Crowe  himself  was  despatched.  A  number  of  the  sur- 
vivors were  tried  for  their  part  in  the  affair,  condemned 
to  eight  months'  imprisonment,  and  served  out  their  term 
in  Santa  Clara  jail.  They  had  but  just  been  released, 
say  a  month  before  our  arrival.  Their  brethren  and 
well-wishers  had  received  them  on  their  return  with 
an  ovation,  the  noise  of  which  hardly  yet  ceased  to  ring 
in  the  air. 

III. 

Bakersfield,  capital  of  Kern  County,  seventy-five  miles 
farther  south,  somewhat  smaller  than  Visalia,  boasted  at 
one  tim^e  the  distinction  of  a  malady  peculiar  to  itself. 
The  Bakersfield  form  of  malarial  fever,  whatever  the  fine 
difference  that  distinguished  it  from  others,  had  a  posi- 
tion apart  in  the  medical  works.  The  sanitary  condition 
of  the  place,  however,  has  been  greatly  improved  by  the 
extension  of  drainage  and  irrigation  works,  and  can,  no 
doubt,  be  made  all  that  could  be  desired. 

Of  the  three  lakes,  Tulare,  Buena  Vista,  and  Kern, 
which  make  so  large  a  showing  on  the  map,  the  latter 
two,  with  their  surrounding  marshes,  have  been  dried  up, 
and  the  former  is  on  its  way  to  extinction  also.  These 
lakes  had  for  me,  on  the  map,  a  mysterious  and  import- 
ant air.  I  seized  the  first  opportunity  to  penetrate  their 
mystery,  by  riding  down  to  Tulare  Lake  on  horseback. 
You  cannot  reach  the  margin,  for  fear  of  miring.  Nor 
is  the  approach  on  foot  much  easier.  The  tules,  or 
rushes,  rise  high  above  your  head,  and  are  infested  with 


406  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVIXCES. 

a  dangerous  breed  of  wild  hogs,  descended  from  vagrant 
deserters  from  the  ranches.  In  such  fragmentary  glimpses 
as  are  had  between  and  over  the  tulos  an  expanse  of 
dreary  surface  appears  which  may  be  either  water  or  the 
alkali -whitened  bed  from  which  the  water  has  receded. 
The  vicinity  swarms  with  wild  fowl.  Their  multitndi- 
nons  chatter  has  a  kind  of  metallic  clang  in  it.  Now 
white,  now  dark,  as  they  are  before  or  against  the  sun- 
light, they  flutter  above  the  reeds  and  stubble-fields  like 
autumn  leaves  blown  by  the  wind. 

The  drying  up  of  the  lakes  is  occasioned  by  the  diver- 
sion of  the  surplus  waters  of  the  Kern  River  for  the 
redemption  of  desert  lands.  This  gave  rise  to  a  contro- 
versy, lately  settled  by  a  legal  decision  which  is  a  step  in 
the  crystallization  into  shape  of  a  system  of  water  juris- 
diction for  California.  The  great  firm  of  real-estate  men 
and  ranchmen,  Miller  &  Lux,  owned  the  lands  below ; 
the  almost  equally  great  firm  of  Ilaggin,  Carr  &  Tevis, 
those,  for  the  improvement  of  which  the  water  was  taken 
out,  above.  The  first-named  complained  of  the  diversion 
of  the  waters  as  a  detriment  to  them,  and  an  infi-inge- 
ment  of  their  riparian  rights.  Riparian  right,  it  will  be 
remembered,  in  the  English  common  laM^,  gives  to  the 
resident  on  a  stream  the  right  to  have  it  flow  as  it  was 
wont  through  his  grounds  without  diminution  or  altera- 
tion. 

The  contest  at  first  promised  to  be  one  of  physical 
force.  Miller  &  Lux  endeavored  to  close  the  sluices  at 
which  the  water  was  taken  out.  Just,  as  in  Scripture, 
the  herdsmen  of  Gerara  strove  against  the  herdsmen  of 
Isaac,  saying,  "  It  is  our  water,"  the  hardy  vaqueros  of 
Ilaggin,  Carr  &  Tevis  were  mustered  in  opposition  to 
them,  with  orders  to  lasso  and  throw  into  the  canal  any- 
body who  should  interfere  with  the  sluices.     This  deter- 


VIS  A  LI  A,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC.  407 

mined  show  of  resistance  prevented  a  conflict,  and  tlie 
case  went  to  the  civil  courts. 

The  decision  spoken  of  holds  that  the  doctrine  which 
prevails  in  California  is  not  that  of  riparian  right,  but 
that  of  "  prior  appropriation  for  beneficial  uses." 

That  is  to  say,  the  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  u um- 
ber is  consulted.  The  point  had  been  raised  before  in 
cop.troversies  about  the  diversion  of  water  for  mining 
purposes.  In  these  cases  the  ruling  was,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  riparian  right  is  "  inapplicable,  or  applicable  only 
in  a  very  limited  extent,  to  the  necessity  of  miners,  and 
inadequate  for  their  protection."  It  was  farthermore 
lield  that  all  of  the  English  common  law  is  not  in  force 
in  California,  but  only  such  portions  of  it  as  are  adapted 
to  the  peculiar  conditions  of  the  State.  The  agricultural 
and  mining  interests,  therefore,  are  now  put,  in  this  re- 
spect, on  the  same  footing. 

Bakersfield  takes  its  tone  essentially  from  live  stock. 
It  has  special  resorts  for  drovers  and  sheep-herders.  Its 
streets  are  generally  full  of  hoi'ses,  caparisoned  in  the 
Spanish  style,  tied  to  hitching-posts  and  awaiting  their 
owners  before  the  stores  and  taverns.  The  sheep-herd- 
ers, a  lonely  race,  become  morose  and  melancholy  in  their 
long  wandei'ings  with  their  flocks  apart  from  the  habita- 
tions of  men  and  human  speech.  They  are  far  removed 
from  the  shepherds  of  Boucher  and  Watteau.  Some  are 
I  said  to  go  insane  through  the  monotony  of  their  lives; 
and  it  is  an  occupation  taken  up  only  as  a  last  resort,  and 
unfitting  him  who  pursues  it  for  any  other.  Strangely 
enough,  there  is  a  rather  English  tone  among  them. 
Young  prodigals  of  good  fannly  are  found  who,  after 
trying  their  fortunes  in  Australia,  India,  and  elsewhere, 
are  eating  the  husks  of  repentance  here  in  true  Script- 
ural fashion. 


408  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVLNCES. 

Tlio  shops  in  Bakersfield,  as  throngliout  our  travels, 
are  kept  principally  by  the  Jews,  who  are  great  pioneers. 
No  people  are  growing  up  more  ardently  with  the  new 
West;  and  where  they  are  found  business  is  pretty  sure 
to  be  good. 

The  Chinatown  is  a  district  of  compact  little  streets,  of 
an  extent  that  indicates  a  population  almost  equal  to  that 
of  the  rest  of  the  place.  An  irrigating  ditch  surrounds  it 
like  a  moat.  The  cabins  along  this,  picturesquely  re- 
flected in  it,  are  gray  and  weather-beaten,  varied  with 
patches  of  bright  Orientalism,  and  shaded  by  a  line  of 
tall  poplar-trees.  The  Spanishtown,  close  by,  is  a  cluster 
of  dance-houses  and  corrals,  between  which  swarthy  Joses 
and  Juanitas  are  seen  passing. 

As  if  this  were  not  foreignness  enough  already,  we 
stumble  upon  a  camp  of  strolling  gypsies,  their  tents 
pitched  on  the  borders  of  Spanishtown.  They  are  Eng- 
lish, and  have  come  from  Australia,  dropping  their  "li's" 
all  along  the  way,  no  doubt,  as  liberally  as  here.  They 
are  like  tj^pes  of  Cruikshank  and  Dickens.  An  apple- 
faced  Mrs.  Jarley  appears  in  a  large  velvet  bonnet  with 
plumes.  A  very  tightly-dressed,  slender  individual,  with 
a  weed  on  his  hat,  might  pass  for  Sam  Weller.  He  is 
a  horse-tamer  and  jockey.  At  his  heels  follows  a  bellig- 
erent bull-dog.  Behind  one  of  the  tents  a  child  of  nine, 
Cassie  by  name,  with  fine,  dark  eyes,  is  making  a  toilet 
before  a  bit  of  cracked  mirror.  She  pastes  down  her  wet 
hair  into  a  semblance  of  the  "water-waves"  of  fashiona- 
ble society.  When  interrupted  with  a  compliment  on 
the  arrangement  she  affects  displeasure,  and  tosses  it  all 
abroad  again  with  a  native  coquetry. 

The  Mrs.-Jarley-looking  woman  is  the  fortune-teller. 
She  declares  that  there  are  persons  whose  fortunes  she 
would  not  tell  for  twenty — no,  not  for  fifty  dollars. 


VIS  ALIA,  BAKEBSFIELD,  ETC. 


409 


410         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Mine,  however,  tlirongli  un  especial  likiii";  slie  affects  to 
have  taken  to  nie,  and  the  dnhiess  of  trade,  slie  promises 
to  tell,  in  the  most  effective  manner,  for  two  dollars  only. 


IV. 

The  possessions  of  some  of  the  great  land-owners  are 
prodigious.  It  is  a  favorite  story  that  certain  ones  can 
drive  a  herd  of  cattle  from  the  northern  counties  of  the 
State  to  San  Diego,  its  southern  limit,  and  quarter  them 
every  night  on  their  own  ground.  Haggin,  Carr  &  Tevis, 
whose  property  I  was  privileged  to  examine  in  detail, 
liave  at  Bakersiield  four  hundred  thousand  acres  nearly 
in  one  body.  Much  of  this  was  secured  for  a  trifle  in 
the  condition  of  desert  land,  and  has  been  redeemed. 

One  ranchman  who  had  acquired  a  great  estate  of  this 
kind  chiefly  while  surveyor-general  of  the  United  States 
was  the  occasion  of  drawing  forth  one  of  the  best  hon 
mots  of  Lincoln. 

"I  congratulate  you,"  said  our  martyred  President. 
"  You  have  become  monarch  of  about  all  you  have  sur- 
veyed." 

The  oM'ners  do  not  often  live  upon  their  estates; 
they  leave  them  in  the  hands  of  managers,  and  draw 
the  revenues.  The  Haggin,  Carr  &  Tevis  property  is 
divided  into  a  number  of  separate  ranches,  each  w^ith  its 
resident  superintendent.  The  "Bellevue  Eanch"  is  the 
centre  and  focus  of  authority.  Here  are  the  residence 
and  office  of  the  general  manager,  and  a  force  of  book- 
keepers, engineers,  and  mechanics,  who  keep  the  accounts, 
map,  plan,  supervise,  construct,  repair,  and  give  to  the 
whole  the  clock-work  regularity  of  a  great  commercial 
enterprise.  The  numerous  buildings  constitute  a  consid- 
erable settlement.     There  is  a  "  store  "  of  jrcneral  mcr- 


VISA  LI  A,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC. 


411 


412  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

cliandisc  unci  supjilies.  A  donnitorj  and  a  dining-hall 
have  been  erected  for  tlie  laboring  liands.  A  tower-like 
water-tank,  surmounted  bj  a  windmill,  and  accommodat- 
ing a  milk-room  below,  rises  at  one  side.  There  are 
shops  for  the  mechanics,  capacious  barns,  and  long  sheds 
filled  with  an  interminable  array  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments. It  is  worth  while  to  take  a  walk  past  this  collec- 
tion of  reapers,  threshers,  sulky-ploughs,  and  rakes,  and 
study  out  their  uses.  The  immense  "header  and  sepa- 
rator" rises  from  the  rest  like  a  leviathan.  A  whole 
department  is  devoted  to  "  road-scrapers,"  "  buck-scrap- 
ers," and  ploughs  of  various  sorts  used  in  the  construc- 
tion and  dredging  of  the  irrigating  ditches.  The  soil  is, 
fortunately,  free  from  stones,  and  the  work,  for  the  most 
part,  easy.  One  enormous  plough  is  seen  which  was 
designed  to  be  drawn  by  sixty  yoke  of  oxen,  and  to  cut 
at  once  a  furrow  five  feet  wide  by  four  deep.  Like  the 
famous  Great  Eastern,  it  has  defeated  itself  by  its  own 
mass,  and  its  use  has  been  abandoned. 

More  than  $500,000  has  been  expended  in  the  item  of 
fencing  alone.  An  average  of  four  hundred  laborers  is 
employed,  and,  in  the  harvest  season,  seven  hundred. 
The  rate  of  wao;es  is  from  two  and  a  half  to  three  dollars 
per  day  for  mechanics,  and  a  dollar  per  day  for  common 
hands.  This  seems  low  as  compared  with  information 
from  other  sources,  and  the  chronic  complaints  of  the 
scarcity  of  farm  labor,  in  the  California  papers. 

No  great  portion  of  this  domain  appears  to  be  in  the 
market  for  settlers  of  small  means,  though  the  intention 
is  avowed  of  offering  some  of  it  in  this  way  when  thor- 
oughly reclaimed.  Tracts,  however,  are  occupied  on  fa- 
vorable terms  by  "  renters,"  who  take  from  120  to  600 
acres.  Very  many  of  these  are  Portuguese  and  Italians. 
They  are  usually  unmarried,  and  work  in  companies  of 


VJSALIA,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC.  413 

from  six  to  fifteen  persons.  You  see  them,  dark  and 
swarthy,  going  about  in  the  traditional  Garibaldi  shirt, 
with  hardly  a  word  of  English  among  them. 
.  The  renter  is  provided  with  a  house,  artesian  well, 
credit  to  a  moderate  amount  at  the  store,  and  the  use  of 
some  cows.  lie  has  the  milk  of  these,  but  must  give 
their  increase  to  the  estate.  His  lease  runs  three  years, 
and  he  pays  in  rent  one-third  of  his  crop.  Instances  of 
large  profits  are  frequent  among  these  persons,  and  the 
same  opportunities  are  open  to  others  who  wish  to  follow 
their  example. 

The  superintendents  and  upper  employes  on  the  place 
are  largely  Southern  men.  California  was  a  favorite 
point  for  Southern  immigration  at  one  time,  so  much 
that  the  course  of  the  State  in  the  war,  influenced  by  the 
historic  Judge  Terry  and  Senator  Gwin,  was  considered 
problematical.  These  that  I  speak  of,  however,  are  gen- 
tlemen who  have  come  here  to  repair  their  fortunes  at  a 
later  period.  They  have  for  the  most  part  titles  from 
the  service  of  the  extinct  Confederacy,  and  the  gentle 
voices  and  friendly  courtesy  characteristic  of  the  South- 
ern type. 

A  typical  ranch-house,  that,  for  instance,  of  our  hospit- 
able friend  Major  McGlung,  on  his  section  of  the  subdi- 
vided property,  is  a  long,  two-story  dwelling,  painted  in 
the  Indian-red  so  popular  throughout  the  country.  It  is 
raised  on  posts  considerably  above  the  ground,  to  allow 
of  a  free  circulation  of  air  underneath.  There  is  an  open 
hall  through  the  centre  for  the  same  purpose.  An  irri- 
gating ditch  resembling  a  moat  passes  in  front,  crossed  by 
a  little  rustic  bridge. 

Traces  of  alkali  yet  show  white  in  the  soil  of  orchard 
and  garden,  but  do  not  prevent  a  plentiful  growth  of 
oleanders,  roses,  pear,  peach,  cherry,  almond,  and  apri- 


414         OLD   MEXICO  A  XL   HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 


S?      - 


^      J. 


ftiiiP^ 


cot  ti-ees.  The 
jomii^  orange- 
trees  were,  as 
at  Fresno,  put 
up  in  muffliiigs 
of  straw  for 
the  winter. 
•Savfe^-  - ..—  The  weatl  i- 
er  is  very 
liotat  noon-day, 
but  so  cool  at 
morning  and 
evening  that 
wood  -  fires  are 
burned.  The 
cliill  in  the  air  is  of  a  penetrating  kind,  felt  the  more  by 
contrast  with  the  heat  of  the  day,  and  fire  is  a  necessit3\ 
The  house-servants  were  clean,  white-aproned  Chinamen  ; 
those  out-of-doors,  Mexicans.      One   of  these  latter  had 


1  * 


iii^y"^  ^ 


'X 


A    TYPICAL    KAXCH-HOUSE. 


VISALIA,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC.  415 

trained  a  goose,  "  Dick,"  to  follow  him  like  a  pet  dog, 
and  nothing  was  more  curions  than  to  see  the  pride  of 
hpth  master  and  biped  in  tiiis  ridiculous  relation. 
/  Cattle-raising  is  the  leading  industry  ;  alfalfa,  for  carry- 
ing the  stock  over  periods  of  scarcity,  is  the  leading  crop. 
/  Stacks  of  alfalfa  of  great  size,  one  containing  seven  hun- 
dred tons,  were  seen.  It  is  the  ordinary  color  of  hay  ex- 
ternally, but  when  cut  into  is  green. 

A  successful  experiment  has  also  been   made  in   the 
^-i^ising  of  cotton.     The  hands  were  in   the  field    going 
about  among  the  white  pods  for  the  second  picking. 

Though  out  of  season,  a  rodeo  was  organized  for  our 
benefit,  to  show  the  method  of  handling  the  roving  cattle 
on  a  large  scale.  A  number  of  vaqiLsros  rode  out  in  vari- 
ous directions  till  lost  to  sight.  Presently  traces  of  dust 
arose  on  the  several  horizons.  The  plain,  on  which  a  few 
cows  had  been  peacefully  feeding,  was  filled  with  stamp- 
ing and  lowing  herds,  driven  toward  the  centre  by  the  ca- 
reering vaqueros.  When  gathered  in  sufiicient  numbers 
feats  of  lassoing  the  animals,  by  either  leg  or  horn,  sepa- 
rating special  animals  or  classes,  and  the  like,  were  under- 
taken, and  carried  through  with  marvellous  dexterity.  As 
a  culmination,  hats  and  ropes  were  picked  up  from  the 
ground,  the  rider  going  at  full  speed.  A  silver  half-dol- 
lar, placed  on  edge  in  the  dust  of  the  roadway,  was  seized 
after  several  attempts  by  a  swarthy  Aztec. 

The  herders  are  usually  Mexicans,  equipped  in  the 
Mexican  style,  but  with  the  greater  part  of  the  finery 
left  out.  The  liosses,  who  often  even  excel  them  in  pure 
horsemanship,  are  generally  Americans. 

Tlie  ranch  known  as  the  Livermore  borders  Xern  and 
Buena  Vista  Lakes,  and  is  the  southernmost  in  the  tier. 
The  herds  are  gathered  there  in  the  early  spring,  and 
driven  to  the  ranch  of  San  Emidio,  in    the   mountains. 


416         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOiST  rUOVINCES. 


VIS  A  LI  A,  BAKERSFIELD,  ETC.  417 

They  pick  up  their  subsistence  at  San  Emidio  till  the 
middle  of  September,  when  tliej  are  conducted  back 
again.  Such  migrations  from  plain  to  mountain  past- 
ure, and  back  again,  recall  some  features  of  the  Nor- 
wegian pastoral  life  of  Bojesen's  charming  romance, 
"  Gunnar." 

At  the  Livermore  Ranch  you  are  at  the  apex  of  the 
San  Joaquin  Yalley.  Here  the  Sierra  Nevada  and  the 
Coast  Range  effect  a  junction,  and  oppose  a  natural  bar- 
rier to  farther  progress.  The  railroad  has  to  cross  this 
barrier  by  a  wonderful  piece  of  engineering,  the  Tehach- 
api  (Te-/i«^cA-a-pe)  Pass.  At  one  place  five  different 
lengths  of  track  pass  and  repass  at  different  levels.  By 
the  singular  "Loop"  the  road  enters  a  tunnel,  emerges, 
twists  spirally  round  the  mountain,  and  reappears  direct- 
ly above  itself. 

At  San  Emidio  we  are  on  the  boundary-line  of  San 
Luis  Obispo  County,  and  could  make  our  way  directly, 
no  doubt,  to  its  pretty,  mountain-encompassed  capital. 
This  is  more  easily  reached,  however,  with  attractive 
Santa  Barbara  below,  by  steamer,  or  stage-road  along 
the  coast. 

Returning  to  Bakersfield,  you  may  ride  west  to  the  wild 
canon  of  the  Kern  River,  and  the  mining  towns  of  Kern- 
ville  and  Havilah.  The  raining  industry  has  never  taken 
the  same  development  south  of  the  San  Joaquin  River  as 
north.  It  is  probable  both  that  there  is  less  ore  and  that 
the  ventures  have  been  managed  with  less  skill.  At  Kern- 
ville  is  a  quartz-mill,  with  a  hundred  stamps,  which  after 
many  vicissitudes  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  its  former 
workmen  for  debt,  and  is  now  run  by  them  on  the  co- 
operative principle. 

The  rolling  country  by  which  the  Kern  River  Canon 
is  approached  is,  if  possible,  even  more  desolate  than  the 

18* 


418  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


VISA  LI  A,  BAKEKSFIELD,  ETC. 


419 


plain.  There  is  almost  a  necessary  connection  in  our 
usual  impressions  between  hills  and  trees,  and  when  fo- 
liage is  missing  from  hills  its  lack  is  doubly  notable.  An 
utterly  parched,  verdureless  surface,  with  a  texture  like 
that   of  gravel,  here   follows   all   the   inequalities  of  tlie 


niK  kh;kn    iuvkii  canon. 


ground,  up  hill  and  down  dale,  to  the  savage  and  splin- 
tered granite  gorge. 

We  fell  in  with  an  isolated  sheep  ranchman,  "Captain 
Jack  Barker,"  an  enterprising  man,  who  had  created  a 
garden  spot  in  the  waste,  and  showed  what  even  this  is 
capable  of.     lie  was  engaged  on  a  project  for  leading  the 


420         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

water,  by  means  of  a  flume  and  ditches,  from  the  river  at 
the  canon^s  mouth  down  upon  several  tlioueand  acres  of 
land  under  cultivation.  In  the  spring-time,  he  told  us, 
all  this  bareness  is  hidden  bj  a  perfect  carpet  of  flowers, 
chiefly  a  small  orange-scarlet  poppy.  His  sheep  at  pres- 
ent seemed  living  on  air.  He  had  among  them  some 
Angora  goats,  a  hardy  animal,  once  very  profitable,  but 
now,  since  the  decline  in  alpaca  goods,  being  used  by 
him  for  food. 

The  Kern  River  tumbles  down  a  gorge  four  miles  in 
length,  between  granite  walls  six  hundred  feet  high. 
Its  water  is  translucent  green  in  deep,  untroubled  pools, 
again  churned  into  milk-white  floods,  with  black  bowl- 
ders among  them.  The  caiion  is  all  but  impassable.  It 
acts  like  a  funnel,  and  produces  a  local  disturbance  of  its 
own  on  the  atmosphere.  While  all  around  is  still,  a  col- 
umn of  air  will  blow  out  of  it,  and,  striking  the  table- 
land a  quarter  of  a  mile  away,  raise  a  chronic  dust  at  the 
point  of  contact,  like  a  cannon-shot. 

Driving  across  the  front  of  it  we  were  nearly  blown 
out  of  our  wagon.  We  descended  into  it,  nevertheless, 
and  upon  this  experience  returned  to  dine  on  ribs  of 
Captain  Jack  Barker's  Angora  goats,  and  then  take  the 
railway  and  cross  the  Tehachapi  Pass. 


LOS  ANGELES.  421 


XXVIII. 

LOS  ANGELES. 


Over  the  Tehachapi  Pass,  we  are  in  Southern  Califor- 
nia proper.  We  have  met  ah'eadj,  it  is  true,  with  pretty 
Spanish  names,  old  missions,  leather  breeches,  jingling 
spurs,  vineyards,  raisin-making,  and  occasional  orange  and 
palm  trees.  But  when  the  dividing  mountain-range,  four 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea  at  Tehachapi,  is  passed,  all 
these  are  found  in  their  greatest  development.  The  coun- 
try is  older,  the  Spanish  names  are  more  musical ;  or- 
ange and  lemon  are  not  grown  for  ornament,  but  as  a 
principal  crop ;  and  the  climate  is  of  that  genial  mildness 
which  is  most  to  the  taste  of  seekers  for  health. 

Famed  Los  Angeles,  City  of  the  Angels,  is  the  termi- 
nus of  the  first  day's  journey  which  brings  us  into  it. 
The  watering-place  of  Santa  Monica  and  the  important 
points  of  San  Buenaventura  and  Santa  Barbara  are  not 
far  distant  to  the  west,  while  San  Diego  lies  at  a  moderate 
remove  to  the  southward,  near  the  Mexican  frontier.  In 
the  intervals  scatter  colonies  of  vine  and  orange  growers, 
the  numbers  and  dimensions  of  which  are  rapidly  in- 
creasing. 

/  The  mountain  barrier  across  the  State  is  deemed  by 
/some  to  be  of  such  importance  that  it  should  be  a  politi- 
ml-^fl-weH  as  a  natural  division.     They  call  for  the  con- 


422 


OLD  MEXICO  AM)  HER  LOST  J'ROVLXCES. 


struction  of  a 
distinct  new 
State,  to  be 
called  South 
California, 
its  capital  at 
Los  AngeleSo 


"  We    are 
different  peo-     \ 
})les,"  wiites 
one  of  tlieni 
in   the    Call- 

fornian.  "  We  are  differ- 
ent in  pursuits,  in  tastes, 
manner  of  thought,  and 
manner  of  life  ;  .  .  .  our 
liopes  and  aspirations  for 
the    future    are    different. 

The  restless,  uneasy  population  of  the  North,  ever  drift- 
ing, without  local  attachments,  has  no  counterpart  in 
Southern  California;  neither  has  the  wild  spirit  of  min- 


TKHACHAPI    PASS. 


LOS   ANGELES.  423 

ing  speculation  ever  flourished  here.  With  this  peace- 
able life,  possibly  in  part  as  a  result  of  it,  there  has 
grown  up  in  the  people  an  intense  love  of  their  land. 

"And  it  is  for  their  own  section  of  the  State,"  he  goes 
on,  "  that  this  love  exists.  They  call  themselves,  not  Cal- 
ifornians,  but  Southern  Californians.  The  feeling  is  in- 
tense. I  can  only  liken  it  to  the  overmastering  love  of 
the  old  Greek  for  the  sunny  shores  that  lay  around  the 
^gean. 

"  For  myself,  I  feel  more  and  more  each  time  that  I 
visit  the  upper  portion  of  the  State  that  I  am  going  into 
a  strange  land.  And  the  impression  never  leaves  me  till 
upon  my  return  I  look  down  from  the  crest  of  the  Te- 
hachapi  over  the  warm  South-land." 

1  have  thought  it  worth  while  to  quote  these  passages, 
partly  because  they  are  amusing,  partly  because  they  ac- 
centuate the  topographical  situation,  and  also  because 
they  attribute  a  chai'acter  almost  the  opposite  of  that 
which  exists.  NjEverywhere  is  bustle,  push,  and  enterprise. 
This  people  will  sell  you  a  corner  lot  or  quarter-section 
of  land  with  as  great  a  gusto  as  any  other,  and  at  its  full 
value.  Whatever  effect  lapse  of  time  may  have  upon 
them,  the  present  inhabitants,  few  of  whom  are  born 
here  or  even  drafted  from  indolent  climes,  if  lotus- 
eaters,  are  of  a  very  wide-awake  sort. 


II. 

The  City  of  the  Angels  is,  in  general,  only  another 
San  Jose,  upon  a  more  hill}'  site.  Its  population  must 
be  about  fourteen  thousand.  The  long  thoroughfare  of 
Main  Street  proceeds,  from  the  depot,  at  first  through  a 
shabby  Spanish  quarter,  locally  known  as  "  Sonora,"  con- 
sisting of  one-story,  whitewashed,  adobe  houses.     Passing 


•f 


424:         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

a  small  Spanish  plaza,  set  with  pointed  cypresses,  and  the 
principal  hotel,  the  Pico  House,  it  becomes  lined  with  ex- 
cellent buildings  of  the  modern  pattern.  Of  these  the 
handsome  "  Baker  Block"  is  most  notable.  Continuing  to 
the  ornate  "  Los  Angeles  Bank,"  Spring  Street  diverges 
at  a  small  angle,  and  contributes,  with  Main  Street,  to 
give  the  commercial  skeleton  of  the  town  the  shape  of 
a  Y  with  a  very  long  stem. 

On  Spring  Street  you  find  a  common  little  post-oflBce, 
the  municipal  offices,  and  a  brown,  Dutch-looking,  brick 
building,  standing  free,  originally  constructed  for  a  mar- 
ket, and  now  the  Court-house.  If  you  look  into  the  lobby 
of  the  small  adobe  jail  you  will  find  that  some  leisurely 
prisoner  of  the  frescoer's  trade  has  converted  it  into  a 
resemblance  to  a  dungeon  scene  at  the  theatre.  These 
two  streets,  with  a  shorter  one,  Los  Angeles  Street,  par- 
allel to  Main,  containing  fruit  and  produce  commission 
houses,  comprise  the  commercial  portion  of  the  city. 

New  buildings  are  seen  going  up;  the  shops  are  large 
and  well-appointed,  and  placards  offer,  in  the  usual  shib- 
boleth of  trade,  "To  Eeduce  Stock!"  "At  Wholesale 
Slaughter,"  and  "  For  the  Next  Sixty  Days." 

A  serious  depression  afflicted  Los  Angeles  in  1875,  at 
the  time  of  the  general  depression  throughout  the  State, 
but  that  has  been  succeeded  by  a  new  reign  of  activity. 
Trim,  large  residences  of  the  more  prosperous  merchants 
are  seen  in  the  outskirts  of  the  town.  Farther  out  yet 
these  become  villas,  in  the  midst  of  plantations  of  orange 
and  lemon,  ruled  off  into  formal  plots  by  ditches  for  ir- 
rigation. The  class  of  modest  means  abide  in  the  side 
streets,  in  frame  cottages.  The  German  Turn-hall  serves 
also  the  purpose  of  theatre  for  such  companies  as  come 
this  way. 

It  is  held  that  Los  Angeles,  with  its  port  of  Wilming- 


LOS  ANGELES. 


mi  mm; 


ton,    thirty    miles 
away,    should    be 
now,  upon  the  completion  of  the 
Southern  Pacific  railroad,  the  en- 
irepot  and  Pacific  terininus  of  a 
new  commercial  departure.     San   li 
Francisco,  it  is  said,  has  too  long 
sat  at  the  Golden  Gate  "  levvins: 


MAIN    STUKKT,  I.nS    ANliia.KS. 
-I 


toll  on  every  pound  of  freight  that  passes  throngh," 
and  this  selfish  greed  is  to  be  properly  rebuked  by  the 
diversion  of  a  part  of  its  trade.  Enthusiastic  San  Diego 
expects  also  to  have  its  share.  Tiie  wickedness  of  tiie 
proceeding  would  seem  to  depend  largely  upon  who  it  is 


426  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

tliat  takes  the  toll.     Los  Angeles,  it  is  held,  is  to  be  the| 
Lyons,  and  San  Diego  the  Marseilles,  of  the  State,  San 
Francisco  still  remaining  its  Paris. 

The  pepper-tree,  with  its  scarlet  berries  and  fern-like 
leaves,  forms  the  leading  shade  and  ornament  of  Los 
Angeles  streets.  Apart  from  these  a  clump  of  palms 
grows  on  San  Pedro  Street,  and,  before  an  odd,  octagon- 
shaped  house  on  Main  Street,  a  Mexican  nopal  of  the 
size  of  an  apple-tree.  In  the  court-yard  of  the  principal 
hotel  droops  a  single  ragged  banana.  Tropical  features 
in  the  vegetation  are  scarce,  but  it  is  evident  that  this  is 
not  the  fault  of  the  climate,  but  of  failure  to  encourage 
them.  In  the  door-yards  are  the  Mexican  aloe  and  the 
Spanish  bayonet,  from  the  adjacent  deserts  of  Mohave 
and  Arizona.  The  castor-oil  plant  grows  a  tall  weed  in 
neglected  places.  The  extraction  of  castor-oil  was  at  one 
time  an  industry  of  the  place,  but  is  now  abandoned. 


III. 

The  Mexican  element  must  be  something  like  one-third 
of  the  entire  population  of  the  place.  In  the  Spanish 
town,  "Sonora,"  the  recollection  of  Mexico  is  revived, 
but  a  very  shabby,  provincial  Mexico.  You  find  mescal 
and  tequila^  the  two  varieties  of  intoxicating  liquor  dis- 
tilled from  the  maguey^  or  aloe.  The  dingy  little  adobe 
shops  contain  samples  of  dingy  little  stocks  of  goods  in 
their  shuttered  loop-holes  of  windows.  A  few  swarthy, 
lantern-jawed  old-timers  hang  about  the  corners,  and  gos- 
sip in  patois^  and  women  with  black  shawls  over  their 
heads  pass  by.  Much  of  the  quarter  is  in  a  ruinous  con- 
dition. There  remain  vestiges  of  the  arcade  system  of 
the  kind  known  in  some  form  to  all  tropical  or  semi-trop- 
ical climates.     The  arcades  of  Sonora  are  not  of  massive 


LOS  ANGELES.  427 

brick  and  stone,  but  are  wooden  roofs,  such  as  are  put  out 
by  our  corner  grocers,  on  light  wooden  posts.  Here  and 
tliere  only  the  battered  skeletons  remain,  attached  to 
ruinous  houses.  Most  California  municipalities  have 
borrowed  something  of  this  Spanish  idea.  At  Sacra- 
mento the  thriving  but  flat  and  not  attractive  capital  of 
tlie  State,  you  can  walk  nearly  all  over  the  business  part 
of  town  under  cover. 

There  is  a  xary  respectable-looking  restaurant — a  vine- 
embowered  cottage — opposite  the  Pico  House,  where  the 
familiar  tortillas.,  or  pancakes,  and  fr'ijoles^  or  stewed 
beans,  may  be  had.  Along-side  is  an  adobe  church, 
quaint  in  pattern,  but  modern  and  devoid  of  farther  in- 
terest. From  its  belfry  the  chimes  jangle  loudly  several 
times  a  day  in  familiar  Mexican  fashion.  Out  of  Sonora 
emerges,  on  the  16th  of  September,  the  Juarez  Guard, 
which  escorts  a  triumphal  car  bearing  the  national  colors 
of  red,  white,  and  green,  and,  aided  by  a  cortege  of  dark 
little  maidens,  in  white  mnslin  and  slippers,  proceeds  to 
celebrate  with  appropriate  ardor  the  anniversary  of  Mex- 
ican independence. 

This  people,  who  have  gone  so  much  to  the  wall, 
wear  no  very  pathetic  aspect  in  their  adversity.  They 
are  for  the  most  part  engaged  in  coarse  labor,  are  im- 
provident, and  apparently  contented.  It  is  only  rarely 
that  a  Spanish  name — a  Pacheco,  a  Sepulveda,  or  Estudil- 
lo — rises  into  prominence  in  the  public  affairs  of  the  State 
of  which  they  were  once  owners.  Old  Don  Pio  Pico,  the 
last  of  the  Spanish  Governors,  resides  here,  impoverished, 
in  a  little  cottage,  in  sight  of  property  of  great  value 
which  was  formerly  his,  and  of  the  plaza  once  the  centre 
of  his  authority. 

Don  Pio  is  one  of  the  picturesque  features  of  Los  An- 
geles, and  with  his  history  would  be  esteemed  interesting 


428 


OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 


anywhere.  Above  eighty  j'cars  of  age,  with  stocky  figure, 
square  head,  and  bright  eyes,  contrasting  with  his  bronzed 
skin  and  close-cropped  white  hair  and  beard,  he  has  a  cer- 
tain resemblance  to  Victor  Hugo.  He  has  a  rather  florid 
taste  for  jewelry.  He  carries  himself  about  town,  in  his 
short  overcoat  with  velvet  collar  and  cuffs,  with  a  bearing 
still  erect  and  stately.     It  is  strange  to  tell,  but  true,  and 


DON    PIO    PICO. 


it  is  evidence  of  the  conservatism  and  lack  of  adaptabil- 
ity of  his  race,  that  the  old  gentleman,  though  once  Gov- 
ernor of  the  State,  and  a  continuous  resident  of  it,  as  an 
American  citizen,  since  he  surrendered  it  to  Fremont  and 
Stockton  in  1847,  does  not  yet  speak  a  word  of  any  other 
language  than  Spanish.  The  talk  of  this  historic  person- 
age gave  but  a  rude  picture  of  the  state  of  society  in  his 
youth.  Was  there  anything  in  the  world  so  remote  as 
the  California  of  the  years  1810  to  1848  ? 


LOS  AXGELES.  429 

"  I  am  but  a  plain  and  unassuming  person,"  lie  said  to 
me.  "  My  father  did  not  leave  me  a  mule  nor  a  vara  of 
ground.  I  worked  for  the  padres  at  the  San  Gabriel 
Mission  when  I  was  a  boy,  and  I  had  little  opportunity 
to  learn  book  knowledge." 

He  disclaimed  being  an  authority  even  on  the  events 
of  his  own  fall  and  the  encroachments  of  the  Americans. 
"  There  are  many,"  he  said,  "  who  have  a  better  head  for 
those  things  than  I,  and  who  will  tell  you  better  than  I." 
.  ..."  I  was  a  just  man,  however.  I  treated  the  rich 
no  better  than  the  poor.  Hence  when  they  asked  who 
was  lo  mas  justo  y  honrado — the  most  just  and  honest 
man  —  for  Governor,  it  was  answered  with  one  accord, 
'Don  Pio  Pico.'" 

There  are  differences  of  opinion  about  those  ancient 
officials.  Some  of  them  liave  been  charged  with  a  whole- 
sale issue  of  land-patents  after  the  American  occupation, 
which  patents  ostensibly  belonged  to  their  respective  ad- 
ministrations. Edwin  M.  Stanton,  sent  out  to  look  into 
these  matters  by  the  Attorney -general  of  the  United 
States,  reported  at  the  time  that  "the  making  of  false 
grants,  with  the  subornation  of  false  witnesses  to  prove 
them,  has  become  a  trade  and  a  business."  ^^ 

The  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  in  1847,  by  which 
the  war  with  Mexico  was  concluded,  made  valid  and  of 
full  force  whatever  had  been  done  before  the  American 
occupation.  Sjmnish  governors  were  numerous  in  those 
last  days,  and  went  in  and  out  of  office  witli  extraordinary 
frequency,  by  reason  of  plots,  counterplots,  and  the  in- 
ability of  the  home  government  to  enforce  its  own  will. 
Alvarado,  Carillo,  Micheltorena,  and  Pio  Pico  reigned 
separately,  or  together,  or  by  turns,  in  a  revolutionary, 
confused,  and  overlap])ing  wa}',  which  furnished  excellent 
oi>portunity  fur  fraud.     One  prefers,  however,  not  to  lin- 


430         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  ITiOVINCES. 


MONGOLIAN    ANC    MKXICAN. 


ger  upon  unpleasant  snsi)ici()ns,  Init  rather  to  esteem  tliese 
fallen  dignitaries,  few  of  wlioin  now  survive  after  their 
misfortunes  and  I'omantic  histories. 

Even  the  Chinese,  singnlarly  enough,  show  greater  en- 
terprise than  the  Spanish.  Perh;ij)S  they  may  have  a 
somewhat  better  warrant  for  comin^  in  here  than  else- 
where,  since  a  Ciiinaman  is  found  in  the  list  of  the  twelve 
original  settlers  of  the  town,  in  1781.  They  have  pushed 
into  the  best  of  the  old  S[)anish  adobe  houses,  once  the 
best  of  theif  kind  in  the  State.  They  occupy  all  those 
which  flank  the  little  plaza  with  an  entire  street,  others 
debouching  from  it. 

The  populace,  however,  have  iu)t  always  been  the  bet- 


LOS  ANGELES.  431 

ter  reconciled  to  the  liapless  Mongolians.  In  an  ontLurst 
of  deadly  prejudice,  in  the  year  1871,  they  were  dragged 
out  of  their  Spanish  houses  and  hung  to  lamp-posts,  wag- 
on-tongues, a!id  their  own  door-ways,  to  the  number  of 
eighteen,  of  all  ages  and  sizes.  The  riot  was  occasioned 
by  their  resistance  to  some  process  of  a  deputy-sheriff. 
My  informant  described  them  to  me  as  hanging  like 
bunches  of  carrots. 

At  present  they  were  putting  up,  near  the  site  of  these 
sanguinary  scenes,  an  ornate  open-air  theatre  or  temple, 
for  a  triennial  religious  festival,  to  last  a  week  or  more. 

IV. 

One  of  my  pleasantest  days  at  Los  Angeles  was  that 
which  I  spent  in  a  drive  with  the  Zanjero. 

The  Zanjero,  indeed  !  who  or  what  is  a  Zanjero? 

His  title  is  derived  from  the  Spanish  zanja — ditch — 
continued  down  from  the  times  of  the  original  settle- 
ment, and  he  is  the  official  overseer  of  water  and  irri- 
gation* lie  took  me  about  with  him  to  observe  this 
important  and  entertaining  part  of  the  economy  of  civ- 
ilization in  these  thirsty  regions.  Not  that  Los  Angeles 
is  so  dry  in  comparison,  for  it  has  thirteen  inches  of  rain 
against  two  at  Bakersfield,  but  it  is  in  abundant  need  of 
irrigation. 

The  Zanjero  is  elected  by  the  City  Council  annually. 
Six  deputies  aid  him  in  the  summer,  reduced  to  three 
in  the  winter,  when  the  rains  render  irrigation  hardly 
necessary.  All  are  invested  with  the  authority  and 
badges  of  policemen. 

The  city,  the  Zanjero  tells  us,  as  we  ride  along,  con- 
trols in  its  corporate  capacity  all  the  waters  of  the  Los 
Angeles  Eiver.     The  Los  Angeles  River  is  a  Southern 


432         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

California  stream  of  the  typical  sort.  It  has  a  wide, 
shallow  bed,  almost  drj  at  the  moment,  but  in  spring 
and  winter  it  brawls  in  dangerous  fashion,  and  often 
carries  awaj  its  bridges.  We  ride  up  to  the  point  near 
a  certain  railroad  bridge  where  the  water  is  first  diverted. 
It  is  taken  out  bj  two  small  canals,  one  for  the  city 
proper,  one  for  the  thriving  suburb  of  East  Los  Angeles. 
We  find  that  the  dam  by  which  the  river  is  checked  for 
this  purpose  is  constructed  of  earth,  with  a  facing  of 
stout  posts  and  planking.  At  the  beginning  of  winter 
the  planking  is  removed,  and  the  stream  allowed  to 
sweep  away  the  rampart  of  earth,  which  is  replaced  by 
a  new  one,  the  succeeding  spring.  Chain-gangs  of  con- 
victs from  the  prison  are  set  upon  this  labor. 

A  canal  is  taken  out  of  the  same  river  twelve  miles 
above,  which  supplies  water  for  drinking  and  irrigating 
the  higher  levels.  There  are  two  very  different  levels 
in  the  configuration  of  the  city,  one  rising  from  the 
other  with  great  abruptness,  as  at  Santa  Cruz. 

Upon  the  height  are  remains  of  the  fort  built  by  Fre- 
mont when  he  entered  the  city.  Directly  at  its  foot  is 
the  cottage  of  Pio  Pico;  the  big  hotel,  still  bearing  his 
name,  in  which  he  sunk  a  handsome  share  of  his  fortune; 
the  little  cypress-studded  plaza;  and  the  shabby  Avhite 
quarter  of  Sonora.  The  mass  of  the  city  lies  to  the  right, 
without  striking  features.  Beyond  it,  toward  the  river, 
stretch  breadths  of  a  russet  bloom  which  we  know  to  be 
vineyards,  together  with  lines  and  parallelograms  of 
orange  and  eucalyptus,  as  formal  as  the  conventional 
trees  in  boxes  of  German  toys.  Across  the  river, 
"  Brooklyn  Heights "  and  "  Boyle  Heights "  rise  to  a 
wide,  rolling  table-land  {mesa)^  which  extends  back  to  the 
blue  Sierra  Madre  Mountains.  Toward  most  of  the 
horizon  stretch  expanses  of  a  garden-like  vegetation  of 


LOS  ANGELES.  433 

a  mysterious  quality  —  the  dreamed-of  orange-groves  in 
mass. 

The  city  has  created  a  considerable  part  of  its  debt 
by  its  water  system,  in  which  it  has  spent  probably 
$200,000.  The  works  are  of  an  ephemeral  character, 
which  will  in  time  be  replaced  by  something  more  sub- 
stantial. The  simple  trenches  and  wooden  flumes  permit 
of  wasted  water,  and  are  costly  to  keep  in  repair.  One  of 
the  principal  ditches,  however,  is  carried  through  a  hill 
some  three-quarters  of  a  mile  in  a  tunnel  of  six  feet  in 
section.  There  have  been  formed  also  numbers  of  dura- 
ble reservoirs  or  artificial  lakes  for  the  storage  of  addi- 
tional water  in  winter  to  supplement  the  river  at  its 
lowest. 

We  rode  out  among  the  villas  and  gardens  and  ob- 
served the  practical  application  of  the  water.  The  main 
ditches  are  three  feet  by  two,  the  lesser  about  two  by 
one.  The  "  head  "  is  the  nominal  standard  of  measure- 
ment of  the  babbling  fluid.  The  head  should  be  a  sec- 
tion of  one  hundred  square  inches,  delivered  under  a 
certain  uniform  pressure,  but  it  is  in  practice  loosely 
administered. 

"  The  irrigators  w^ant  their  work  done,^^  says  the  Zan- 
jero ;  "that  is  the  main  point.  Some  lands  take  more, 
others  less,  according  as  they  are  sandy  or  hold  water. 
A  head  of  fifty  inches  on  the  east  side  will  do  as  much 
as  one  hundred  and  twenty  around  the  city." 

Fan-palms,  India-rubber-trees,  and  tall  bananas  grow 
freely  on  the  lawns  where  a  little  pains  is  taken.  You 
stop  now  to  exclaim  at  a  comfortable  home  embowered 
in  myrtle,  orange,  and  vines,  the  dark,  glossy  foliage 
starred  with  golden  fruit  and  red  roses,  a  spot  for  any 
romance.  Again,  it  is  a  long  arcade  or  temple  of  arbor- 
vitae,  extending  across  the  whole  front  of  a  garden,  and 

19 


43'±         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  FROVINCES. 

framing   in    its   arches   delicious  views   of   distant   blue 
mountains,  their  tops  now  powdered  with  snow. 

This  land  of  running  brooks  should  be  a  famous  place 
for  the  children  to  sail  their  boats,  though  as  a  matter  of 
fact  we  do  not  see  them  doing  it.  Perhaps  there  is  a  law 
against  it.  There  are  laws,  at  any  rate,  against  stealing 
the  water,  wantonly  raising  the  gates  to  waste  it,  or  trans- 
ferring it  to  irrigators  outside  the  city  limits.  These 
latter  are  entitled  to  it  only  upon  an  extra  payment  and 
after  those  within  the  city  have  been  supplied. 
/  As  all  irrigators  cannot  be  supplied  at  once,  the  man- 
/ner  of  serving  it  out  is  as  follows :  Applications  have 
to  be  made  in  the  last  week  of  each  month.  The  Zan- 
jero  then  apportions  the  suppl}^  so  that  it  may  go  round 
among  the  applicants  in  the  most  convenient  way.  The 
complete  circuit  takes  about  twenty  days.  The  applicant 
receives  a  ticket,  on  the  payment  of  a  fee,  entitlijig  him 
to  receive  the  water  on  such  a  da)'  at  such  an  hour.  The 
right  for  that  time  is  exclusively  his.  The  rates  are  so 
fixed  as  to  reimburse  the  public  treasury,  and  are  not 
intended  as  a  source  of  profit.  Th^  average  charge  for 
water  is  about  fifty  cents  an  hour,  two  dollars  a  day,  and 
a  dollar  and  twenty-five  cents  a  night. 

The  subscriber  has  the  water  delivered  to  him  by  the 
deputy  at  his  connecting-gate.  At  all  other  times  the 
gate  must  be  kept  fastened  with  a  padlock.  The  wooden 
gate,  sliding  smoothly  in  its  grooves,  is  like  a  little  guil- 
lotine. 

Chop!  goes  the  guillotine,  when  it  has  been  raised 
long  enough,  and  off  goes  the  head,  as  it  were,  of  the 
little  stream.  Thus  surprised  on  its  way  among  the 
orchards  and  gardens,  it  writhes  and  twists  a  while, 
rises  again  in  its  confining  box,  and  is  soon  ready  to 
begin  life  again  on  a  new  basis. 


LOa  ANGELES.  435 

V. 

Los  Angeles  is  the  metropolis  of  the  orange  trade,  but 
the  greater  part  of  the  culture  itself  is  in  tracts  of  the 
surrounding  country,  each  with  a  thriving  settlement  as 
its  nucleus.  The  lands  are  usually  laid  out  and  subdi- 
vided by  capitalists,  under  the  "  colony  "  system,  as  de- 
scribed. Ten  or  even  five  acres  in  a  crop  of  such  value 
are  a  comfortable  property.  On  Lake  Guarda  half  an 
acre  in  lemons  is  sufficient  for  the  support  of  a  family. 
It  is  in  evidence  here  that  returns  of  from  $500  to  $1000 
an  acre  are  had  from  orange,  lemon,  and  lime,  after  the 
trees  have  arrived  at  full  bearing. 

The  piazzas  of  the  orange-planters  command  attractive 
views;  rose  and  heliotrope  bloom  round  them;  and  spec- 
imens of  all  the  fruits  are  offered  for  our  tasting  with 
lavish  hospitality  and  honest  pride  in  their  perfection. 

We  begin  with  Pasadena,  which  is  reached  by  a  drive 
of  ten  miles  from  Los  Angeles.  Pasadena,  the  Indiana 
Colony,  San  Gabriel,  the  Lake  Vineyard  tract,  the  Al- 
hambra,  Santa  Anita,  and  Sierra  Madre  tracts,  and  others, 
all  of  the  same  general  character,  adjoin  one  another. 
The  dwellings  in  them  are  those  of  people  of  means  and 
a  certain  taste.  Even  the  least  show  ambition.  There 
are  pretty  chapels  in  the  Gothic  style,  and  neat  school- 
houses.  Well-dressed  children  of  a  city  air  are  met 
with  on  the  roads.  The  roads  are  excellent.  No  vio- 
lent storms  or  thawing  snows  in  this  climate  tear  them 
up,  and  they  are  kept  in  order  with  little  trouble. 

The  door-yards  are  enclosed  with  hedges  of  lime,  arbor- 
vitse,  or  rose-bushes.  Curious  small  circles  from  time  to 
time  attract  attention,  either  filled  M'ith  watei',  or  dry, 
like  the  rings  of  a  departed  circus.  These  are  reservoirs, 
supplementing  the  irrigation  system.     They  are  usually 


436  OLD    MEXICO  ANT)  HER  LOST  rROVINCES. 

filled  bv  artesian  wells,  which  flow  from  iron  pipes  a 
few  feet  above  the  ground,  the  water  overspreading  the 
top  in  a  thin  film,  like  a  globe  of  glass,  reflecting  neigh- 
boring objects.  Such  globe-like  films,  sparkling  from  a 
distance,  are  a  frequent  item  in  the  prospect.  As  there 
has  never  been  any  forest,  no  unsightly  stumps  indicate 
recent  clearings.  The  country,  in  consequence,  does  not 
look  new.  Where  settled  at  all,  it  has  a  surprisingly  old 
and  civilized  air. 

The  temperature,  this  late  November  day — on  which 
there  are  telegrams  in  the  papers  of  snow-storms  at  the 
North  and  East — is  perfection.  It  is  neither  hot  nor 
cold.  A  sybarite  would  not  alter  it.  Bees  hum  in  the 
profuse  clusters  of  heliotrotpe  about  the  porches.  A  sin- 
gle Jacqueminot  rose  on  a  tall  stem,  a  beauty  whose  sway 
will  not  be  gainsaid,  makes  its  vivid  crimson  felt  from 
the  greensward  a  long  way  off.  Among  the  older  es- 
tates this  is  pointed  out  as  the  home  of  "  Don  Benito," 
that  of  "Don  Tomas,"  so  and  so,  the  family  name  being 
usually  American,  Audacious  in  love  as  in  other  things, 
enterprising  Amei'icans  have  married  into  the  Spanish 
families,  both  before  and  since  the  conquest,  and  suc- 
ceeded to  their  acres.  Yery  few  of  Spanish  stock  still 
retain  any  property  of  note. 

If  there  be  or  ever  existed  anj-  real  earthly  Paradise,  I 
think  it  might  bear  some  such  complexion  as  that  of  the 
Sierra  Madre  Yilla,  on  the  first  bold  rise  of  the  mountains 
at  San  Gabriel.  I  cannot  vouch  for  it  as  a  hotel,  for  ho- 
tel it  is,  but  I  voueh  for  it  as  a  situation. 

The  air  was  heavy  with  the  fragrance  of  extensive  ave- 
nues of  limes  as  I  came  up  to  it.  The  orange-trees  were 
propped  up,  to  prevent  tlicir  breaking  under  their  weight 
of  fruit.  Forty  oranges  on  a  single  bough  !  I  saw  it  with 
my  own  eyes.     Some  of  the  trees,  by  the  freak  of  a  recent 


LOS  ANGELES. 


437 


I'AUAinsK. 


gale,  had  been  deimded  of  their  leaves,  which  left  only  the 
globes  of  golden  fruit,  a  lovely  decorative  effect,  on  their 
bare  stems.  A  view  of  thirty  miles  is  had  across  the  gar- 
den-like San  Gabriel  Yalley,  to  a  strip  of  blue  sea  on  the 
horizon.  On  the  strip  of  blue  sea  rests  a  slight  brown 
spot,  the  jewel  of  Santa  Cataliiui  Island. 

Flowering  vines  clustered  along  a  piazza,  part  enclosed 
in  glass.  In  a  warm  nook  a  couple  reclined  in  steamer- 
chairs,  one  reading  aloud  a  novel  in  a  gentle  murmur. 
They  were  a  couple  of  recent  date,  and  as  the  place  for  a 


438  OLD  MEXICO  AND    HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

lioney-moon  it  was  ideal.  The  orange  bears  a  close  resem- 
blance to  the  formal  tree  which  the  mediaeval  painters 
nsed  to  represent  as  the  "  tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good 
and  evil "  of  Genesis.  It  is  appropriately  placed,  there- 
fore, in  our  earthly  Paradise. 

Hist !  The  young  woman  who  had  been  reading  takes 
her  stand  archly  at  one  side  of  such  a  tree.  The  man 
who  had  been  listening  rises  also,  and,  with  a  slight  yawn, 
places  himself  on  the  other.  Oh,  what  is  this?  Is  she  a 
new  Eve  ?  She  plucks  a  fruit,  and  hands  it  to  him.  Oh, 
this  is  terrible  !  Is  there  to  be  a  fall  again  in  Eden,  and  all 
its  direful  consequences?  There  should  be  some  Cranach 
or  Diirer  here  to  take  down' once  more  the  particulars  of 
the  distressing  scene.  What  does  Eve  wish  Adam  to  do? 
Perhaps  she  wishes  him  to  buy  lands — above  their  value 
— and  go  into  orange-planting  himself.  Alas !  he  will  be 
lost  forever  to  the  higher  financial  life.  Perhaps  Satan 
is  the  invidious  real-estate  man. 

But  really  there  is  no  pressing  need  of  such  a  display 
of  fancy  because  a  young  matron  offers  her  husband  a 
fresh  orange  before  dinner. 

Certain  drawbacks — drawbacks  attending  upon  an  inju- 
dicious entering  into  this  apparently  fascinating  kind  of 
life — should  not  be  overlooked.  The  orange-tree  grows 
all  the  time,  and  calls  for  incessant  care,  winter  as  in  sum- 
mer. Not  a  few  invalids  who  had  looked  to  its  culture 
as  a  pastime  have  broken  down  through  this  cause,  and 
through  having  taken  np  more  land  than  they  could  man- 
age. The  lesson  of  such  cases  is,  not  to  attempt  too  much, 
but  to  keep  to  the  five,  or  ten,  acres,  as  the  case  may  be, 
•within  one's  capacity.  Nor  has  it  been  politic  to  put 
everything  into  the  single  crop  of  oranges.  The  smaller 
fruits^:)eaches,  plums,  and  especially  apricots — for  can- 
ning, which  come  into  bearing  quickly,  are  useful  in  tid- 


Z6>,S-  ANGELES.  439 

ing  over  the  tedious  period  of  waiting  for  the  orange-trees 
to  mature,  and  are  always  in  profitable  demand.  To  start 
existence  comfortable  here  the  new-comer  should  have  a 
capital  of  froni  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars,  though  pecul- 
iar energy  may  do  with  less. 

It  requires  about  nine  years  to  bring  an  orange-tree 
from  the  seed  into  full  bearing.  On  the  other  hand,  it 
is  found  that  by  deftly  inserting  an  orange-bud  into  the 
bark  of  a  lemon-shoot  slitted  in  an  X,  and  setting  this  in 
the  ground,  a  tree  can  be  obtained  which  bears  market- 
able fruit  after  the  second  year.  The  controversy  rages 
as  to  whether  it  is  worth  while  to  do  this,  since  the  prod- 
uct is  dwarf,  like  the  dwarf  pear-tree.  Though  it  yield 
early  it  will  never  yield  much,  and  its  fruit  does  not  stand 
shipment  as  well  as  that  of  the  seedling.  Against  this  it 
is  maintained  that  it  lives  longer  than  the  seedling,  and 
yields  choicer  varieties  of  fruit,  and  that  the  fruit  is  more 
uniform  in  size  and  quality,  and  not  subject  to  a  singular 
form  of  destruction  which  sometimes  overtakes  that  of 
the  seedling — being  dashed  upon  its  own  thorns. 

In  the  same  way  conflicting  theories  of  irrigation  pre- 
vail. A  person  w'ho  bought  grapes  in  largo  quantities  for 
the  purpose  of  making  them  into  wine  told  me  that  over- 
irrigation  was  rendering  them  watery  and  insipid.  lie 
proposed  to  meet  this  by  establishing  a  standard.  He 
would  pay  twenty  dollars  a  ton  for  grapes  containing  twen- 
ty-three per  cent,  of  sugar,  and  for  those  below  standard 
less.  Plentiful  irrigation,  however,  is  relied  upon  to  coun- 
teract that  fatal  pest  of  the  vine,  the  phylloxera.  Some 
advocate  the  theory  of  irrigation  in  the  winter  or  rainy 
season  only.  All  the  water  possible  is  to  be  conducted 
upon  the  land  at  the  time  it  naturally  falls,  leaving  the 
soil  to  act  as  its  own  reservoir,  and  store  up  a  portion  for 
the  dry  season  ahead.     Others  even  deny  the  need  of  ir- 


440         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

riti^atioM  altogether.  They  write  to  the  jiapers  tliat  it  is 
only  necessary  to  keep  the  surface  well  scratched  with  a 
cultivator,  and  a  supply  of  moisture  will  always  be  found 
a  few  inches  below  it.  It  is  certain  that  crops  both  of 
grapes  and  the  cereals  have  been  produced  from  uuirri- 
gated  ground,  even  for  a  series  of  years.  But  then  comes 
a  dry  year,  in  which  everything,  animals  as  well  as  plants, 
is  scorched  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

"Certainty  is  what  is  wanted,"  says  a  lively  inforniant. 
"You  may  not  need  water,  as  yon  may  not  a  revolver, 
all  the  time  ;  but  when  you  do,  you  need  it  awful  bad." 


VI. 

In  the  plain,  just  under  the  mountains,  lies  the  old  vil- 
lage and  mission  church  of  San  Gabriel.  The  mission 
dates  from  1761.  It  was  founded,  like  the  other  missions 
of  California,  by  friars  sent  out  from  the  college  of  San 
Fernando,  in  the  city  of  Mexico.  I  recollect  well  the 
original  San  Fernando.  It  stands  on  the  street  wJiich 
was  the  scene  of  Cortez's  disastrous  retreat  from  the 
city,  and  is  marked  with  an  inscription  commemorating 
the  famous  Leap  of  Alvarado. 

The  Mission  of  San  Gabriel  is  worthy  of  its  picturesque 
origin.  It  has  the  same  massiveness,  color,  and  quaint  ro- 
coco details,  including  the  peculiar  battlement,  or  Spanish 
horn  of  dominion.  Six  old  green  bronze  bells  hang  in  as 
many  niches  together.  The  fern-like  shadows  of  a  line 
of  pepper-trees  print  themselves  in  the  sunshine  against 
the  time-stained  wall.  No  more  than  the  church  edifice 
now  remains.  Great  agricultural  establishments  con- 
nected with  all  these  missions  were  swept  awaj',  years 
before  the  American  occupation,  by  edict  of  the  Mexi- 
can government.     Some  bits  of  broken  aqueduct,  and  a 


LOS  ANGELES. 


441 


\ 


K    I 


4A'2         Ol.l)   MEXICO  AND  UKR   LOST  PROVINCES. 

few  orange-trees,  above  a  hundred  years  old,  in  what  was 
once  the  mission  garden,  are  tlie  only  vestiges  of  former 
prosperity.  The  interior  of  the  church  contains  a  few 
battered  old  reh'gious  paintings,  tlie  worst  of  their  kind. 
It  is  doubtful  if  the  luxury  of  really  good  pictures  was 
ever  superadded  to  the  excellent  architecture,  for  which 
there  was  a  natural  instinct.  It  is  a  commentary  on  the 
popular  estimate  in  which  the  poor  old  masters  are  held, 
I  fear,  that  I  was  told  by  the  neighborhood: 

"  You  7nust  see  them.  They  are  all  Raphaels  and 
Michael  Angelos." 

The  village  is  piquantly  foreign.  Its  single  street  is 
composed  entirely  of  white  adobe  houses.  One  of  them, 
with  a  tumbling,  red-tiled  roof,  is  so  full  of  holes  that  it 
looks  as  if  it  had  been  shelled.  All  the  signs  are  in 
Spanish.  Here  is  the  zajxitero,  or  shoemaker,  and  here 
the  panaderia,  or  bakery.  The  south  walls  are  linng 
with  a  drapery  of  red  peppers  drying  in  the  sun  to  pre- 
pare the  favorite  condiment.  The  population  are  a  hum- 
ble class,  who  gain  tlieir  livelihood  for  the  most  part  by 
daj'-labor  on  the  surrounding  estates.  Tliej'  are  not  too 
poor,  however,  to  I'etain  their  taste  for  festivity  still.  On 
the  occasion  of  some  notable  wedding  among  them  they 
will  manage  to  mount  on  horseback,  and,  surrounding  a 
bridal  carriage,  driven  postilion-fashion,  return  fi'om  the 
ceremony,  at  the  old  mission,  whooping  and  firing  pistols 
in  the  air,  in  the  most  gallant  and  hilarious  fashion. 

Near  by  is  the  large  estate  of  Sunny  Slope,  known  as 
one  of  the  most  successful  instances  of  the  putting  in 
practice  of  the  sanguine  theories  about  tlie  country.  It 
has  been  acquired,  and  developed,  from  very  small  begin- 
nings. It  consists  of  some  nineteen  hundred  acres  of 
land,  most  of  it  in  vines  and  oranges.  There  is  a  large 
wine  and  brandy  making  establishment.     Eight  thousand 


LOS  ANGELES. 


443 


boxes  of  oranges  and  lemons,  four  hundred  thousand  gal- 
lons of  wine  and  one  hnnelred  thousand  of  brandy,  have 
been  produced  in  a  year. 

The  dwellingdiouse  was  ap})roaehed  \\y  a  stately  avenue 
of  orange-trees,  in  double  lines,  three-quarters  of  a  mile 
in  length.  The  road  to  the  lai-ge,  substantial  buildings 
of  the  winery  was  bordered  by  an  orchard  of  orange  on 
one  side  and  olive  on  the  other.  The  vineyards  stretched 
out  in   distant  effect   like   vast   reddish-tawnj^  meadows. 


THE    VINTAGE,   SAN    GABIUEL. 


At  the  winei-y,  blacksmithing  and  cooperage  were  going 
on  on  a  large  scale,  and  a  deft  Chinaman  was  construct- 
ing the  orange -boxes.  The  rich  juice  of  the  grape 
poured  in  floods,  and  its  "more  concentrated  form  as 
brandy  catne  from  its  still  as  clear  as  water.  All  dis- 
tilled spirit  is  naturally  colorless,  and  the  hues  it  obtains 


444         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINVES. 

fur  market  are  given  "by  burned  sngai',  to  gratify  an  arti- 
lieial  taste. 

The  hands  are  Chinamen  and  Mexicans.  The  super- 
intendent tells  us  that  the  former  do  the  most  woik  and 
get  less  pay,  bnt  that  there  are  certain  things  which  they 
cannot  do.  They  cannot  plough,  nor  })rnne  the  vines, 
and  they  are  awkward  in  the  uianagement  of  animals. 
Indeed,  a  Cliinaman  on  horseback,  or  even  in  a  wagon, 
seems  almost  as  incongruous  as  Jack  Tar. 

We  visited,  one  evening,  the  Chinese  quarters,  and  it 
would  have  been  hard  to  find  a  more  clean,  domestic- 
looking  interior  among  men  of  any  other  nationality  in 
the  same  circumstances  of  life.  They  seemed  much 
more  orderly  in  their  arrangements  than  the  Mexicans, 
either  those  from  the  village  or  those  who  had  a  settle- 
ment on  a  bold  slope  of  the  estate  above. 

There  is  much  native  Indian  blood  among  these  latter, 
and  their  dwellings  were  half  wigwams,  patched  up  of 
rubbish.  Mongrel  dogs,  a  donkey,  and  a  foundered  horse 
wandered  at  ease  among  them.  A  reddish-brown  urchin, 
with  large,  liquid  eyes,  coming  out,  paused  to  gaze  at  us. 

"  Co7'-r-re,  demo7iio  de  muchacho  P''  (E,-r-i-un,  demon  of 
a  boy !)  cried  a  slatternly  mother,  who  appeared  behind, 
endeavoring  to  urge  him  upon  some  errand  of  peculiar 
expedition. 

But  the  demon  of  a  boy,  exemplifying  the  traits  of  his 
race,  had  no  idea  whatever  of  being  in  a  hurry.  On  the 
contrary,  having  removed  to  a  safe  distance,  he  dawdled 
in  the  most  exasperating  way,  and  continued  to  stare 
round-eyed  during  all  of  our  critical  tour  of  inspection. 

The  work  of  the  year  was  now  the  pruning  of  the 
vines.  Stripped  of  every  superfluity,  the  rugged  little 
stocks,  regimented  veterans,  were  to  stand  bare  till  the 
exuberance  of  a  new  spring  should  again  break  forth  in 


LOS   AXGELES. 


445 


446         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

leaves,  Faustiiio,  Gaetano,  Inearnacion,  and  the  rest,  for 
so  they  are  called,  appear  to  picturesque  advantage  in 
this  work.  Their  swarthy  faces  are  framed  in  slouch 
sombreros.  They  wear  red-and-blue  shirts,  and  bright 
handkerchiefs  about  their  necks.  They  move  forward  in 
a  line,  pruning-knife  in  hand,  and  a  small  saw  at  the  belt 
for  the  tougher  knots.  The  spots  of  color  twinkle  upon 
the  russet  of  the  vineyard ;  the  pruning-knives  flash  as 
they  turn  to  the  sun;  the  ground  has  a  gentle,  agreeable 
fall ;  and  splintered  granite  mountains,  with  deep  canons 
among  them  for  exploration,  softened  by  a  veil  of  atmos- 
phere, back  up  the  whole. 

The  orange-tree,  even  at  a  great  age,  is  not  as  large  as 
one  may  have  expected.  Even  those  of  a  hundred  years 
in  the  mission  garden  are  not  above  two  feet  in  diame- 
ter. It  is  gratifying  to  be  at  full  liberty  to  examine  this 
attractive  vegetation,  known  heretofore  only  in  its  tub 
in  the  conservatory,  or  on  the  staircase  at  a  ball.  There 
seems  but  one  drawback  to  an  orange-grove,  and  that  is 
that  it  cannot  have  greensward  below  to  lie  upon.  It  is 
very  exacting — requires  all  the  nourishment  the  soil  can 
give,  and  the  soil  must  be  kept  loose  and  open  around 
the  roots.  It  is  irrigated  about  once  a  month,  and  the 
surface  gone  over  with  a  cultivator  afterward,  to  prevent 
baking  up  in  the  sun. 

The  orange-grove  is  lovely  at  all  times,  mysterious 
when  the  long  alleys  are  dark  against  the  red  sunset,  the 
fruit  glimmering  like  a  feast  of  lanterns  at  twilight;  and 
in  the  pleasant  mornings  sparkling  among  the  glossy 
leaves  like  little  suns  newly  risen ;  while  we  catch  the 
perfume  of  blossoms  heralding  in  a  new  crop,  though  the 
last  still  hangs  upon  the  bough.  Here  and  there  is  an 
example  of  the  enormous  shaddock,  which  resembles  the 
orange  in  appearance  but  the  lemon  in  character.     The 


LOS  ANGELES.  447 

lemon  is  less  Iiardj  to  rear  than  the  orange,  and  is  not 
cultivated  on  as  large  a  scale.  Chinamen,  with  ladders 
and  baskets,  gather  the  fruit,  and  chatter  to  one  another 
from  the  trees  like  magpies.  It  is  irrigation-day,  and 
all  at  once  the  water  is  let  on.  Twisting  and  turning 
this  way  and  that,  it  runs  out  upon  the  thirsty  soil,  as  if 
with  an  eager  curiosity  in  the  embrace.  Chinamen  with 
hoes  follow  it,  here  throwing  up  little  dams,  which  it  tries 
to  evade;  there,  when  it  runs  sluggislily,  opening  little 
channels,  and  leading  it  where  it  should  go.  The  whole 
orchard  is  soon  babbling  musically  with  running  water, 
and  in  process  of  being  thoroughly  soaked. 


448         OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  FBOVIiVCES. 


XXIX. 

TO   SAJV  DIEGO,  AND    THE  ALEXICAN  FRONTIER. 

I. 

These  .and  kindred  scenes  are  to  be  met  with  in  lift}', 
I  know  not  how  inanj  more,  localities  of  a  similar  sort. 
San  Fernando,  Florence,  Compton,  Downe}-  City,  West- 
minster, Orange,  Tustin  City,  Centralia,  Pomonn,  and 
Artesia  may  be  mentioned  as  leading  examples.  The 
"colony"  government  is  of  a  simple  sort,  and  consists 
of  a  justice  of  the  peace,  constable,  water  overseer,  and 
school  trustees.  Anaheim,  settled  by  Germans,  was 
one  of  the  first  established  colonies,  and  has  become  a 
town  of  importance.  Santa  Ana  had  a  special  bustle 
at  present,  as  the  terminus,  for  the  time  being,  of  the 
railroad  in  process  of  building  from  Los  Angeles  to  San 
Diego. 

Perhaps,  however,  the  greatest  general  air  of  distinction 
is  worn  by  Riverside.  This  colonj^  seems  to  have  been 
sought  to  an  exceptional  degree  by  persons  in  good  cir- 
cumstances. It  is  tifty-seven  miles  lower  down  than  Los 
Angeles,  and  reached  by  a  drive  of  seven  miles  southward 
fi-om  the  Southern  Pacific  Railroad  at  Colton.  Ft)ur 
miles  north  of  Colton,  on  tlie  other  hand,  takes  yon  to 
San  Bernardino,  an  important  place  of  six  thousand  peo- 
ple, originally  settled  by  Mormons.  The  regular  Moi'- 
mons  withdrew  to  Utah  by  order  of  Brigham  Young  on 
the  threat  of  the  coercive  war  there  in   1S57,  and  only 


SAiV  DIEGO,  AXD    THE  MEXICAN  FRO X TIER.  449 


450         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

a  few  "  Jose[)liites"  now  remain,  whose  practices  do  not 
d lifer  greatly  from  those  of  other  people. 

At  Riverside  is  found  a  continuous  belt  of  settlement 
and  cultivation  twelve  miles  long,  by  two  miles  in  average 
width.  It  will  be  twenty  long  when  all' complete.  The 
population  is  not  large,  but  revels  in  a  great  deal  of  room. 
The  general  situation  is  a  valley  of  about  forty  miles 
square,  at  an  elevation  of  twelve  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  access  to  this  valley  is  by  four  several  passes, 
one  each  on  the  north,  south,  east,  and  west,  as  if  so  many 
doors  had  been  providentially  left  open  in  the  encom- 
passing mountain  ranges.  The  settlement  forms  an  oasis 
in  the  midst  of  the  desert,  after  the  general  plan.  Its 
fresh  greenness,  and  canals  of  clear  water,  along  which 
sylvan  glimpses,  almost  English,  are  met  with,  derive 
added  charm  and  interest  from  the  desert.  The  rest  of 
the  high,  quadi'angular  valley,  capable,  no  doubt,  of  as 
great  development,  if  water  can  be  brought  upon  it,  re- 
mains in  its  natural  condition. 

A  lovely  drive,  called  Magnolia  Avenue,  planted  with 
double  rows  of  pepper  and  eucalyptus  trees,  extends 
through  the  length  of  the  place  from  north  to  south. 
It  is  bordered  with  homes,  making  pretensions  to  much 
more  than  comfort.  The  best  of  these  are  at  the  division 
called  Arlington,  four  miles  below  the  post-office  of  Riv- 
erside proper.  The  native  adobe,  or  sun-dried  brick,  sup- 
plemented with  ornamental  wood-work,  has  been  used  as 
material  with  excellent  effect.  In  the  interiors  are  found 
rugs,  j)ortie/'es,  Morris's  wall-papers,  and  all  the  parapher- 
nalia of  tiie  latest  Eastern  civilization;  and  there  is  an 
archery  club  and  a  "  German." 

Invalidism  is  heard  of  with  considerable  frequency  as 
an  excuse  for  the  migration  hither.  Certainly  many  ad- 
vantages offer  to  the  invalid.     The  climate  permits  him 


SAN  DIEGO,  AND    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       451 


ADOBE    RESIDENCE    AT    RIVERSIDE. 


to  be  almost  constantly  out-of-doors.  The  sky  is  blue,  the 
sun  unclouded,  nearly  every  day  in  the  year,  and  he  can 
go  into  his  orchard  and  concern  himself  about  his  Navel 
or  Brazilian  oranges,  his  paper-rind  St.  Michaels,  and  his 
Tahiti  seedlings,  with  little  let  or  hinderance.  Orange 
culture  affords  him  both  a  career  and  a  revenue.  If  the 
unchanging  blue  of  the  sky  grow  sometimes  monotonous, 
there  are  other  distractions  in  the  noble  mountain  ranges. 
Riverside  has  in  this  resource  a  touch  of  the  charm  of 
Switzerland.  Your  entertainer  points  out  to  you  from 
his  piazza  the  great  peaks  of  Greylock,  San  Bernardino, 
and  San  Jacinto,  from  ten  to  twelve  thousand  feet  in 
lieight,  and  crowned  with  snow  for  a  considerable  part 
of  the  year,  just  as  the  Jungfrau  is  pointed  out  from 
Interlaken  and  Mont  Blanc  from  Geneva. 

It  is  a  description  that  applies  to  all  of  Southern  Cal- 
ifornia, that,  however  great  the  heat  by  day — in  mid- 
summer  often    a  hundred  and   five   in   the   shade — the 


452         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 

nights  are  always  cool  and  refreshing.     Sunstroke  is  no 
known.     Nor  are  the  violent  thunder-storms  with  whic 
Nature,  with  us,  endeavors  to  restore  equilibrium  afte: 
having    exhausted    its    most    oppressive    warmth.     The 
great  drawback    here,   as    there    must    always  be    some 
drawback,  consists  in  occasional  heavy  "  nortiiers,"  which 
gather  up   the  dust  from  the  dry  surface  and  produce  ' 
painful  dust-storms  of  two  or  three  days'  duration. 


{ 


ADOBE    RESIDENCE    AT    RIVERSIDE. 


In  autumn  and  winter  the  temperature  is  chilly  enough 
to  make  fires  a  necessity  morning  and  evening,  and  even 
all  day  long  in  apartments  shut  off  from  the  influence  of 
the  sun.  I  was  astonished  to  find  the  air  so  keen  at 
these  times,  and  a  scum  of  ice  forming  upon  water  in  the 
mornings  even  as  far  down  as  San  Diego.  The  cold  has 
a  penetrating  quality  beyond  its  register  by  the  ther- 
mometer. This,  though  usually  overlooked,  is  impor- 
tant, since  fuel  is  very  scarce  and  correspondingly  dear. 


SAiV  DIEGO,  AND    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       453 

Fagots  of  the  primings  of  the  cotton  woods,  sjciimores, 
and  niesquit-trees  ak)ng  the  beds  of  tlie  streams  are  tlie 
principal  resource.  Such  coal  as  can  be  obtained  is  both 
costly  and  of  poor  quality. 

The  water  for  tlie  irrigation  of  Riverside  is  taken  from 
tlie  swift  little  stream  of  the  Santa  Ana  River,  which 
falls  so  rapidly  within  a  short  compass  that  it  is  feasible 
to  take  out  two  separate  canals  with  a  difference  of  thirty- 
five  feet  in  their  levels.  On  all  sides  lands  are  held  at 
$200  and  $300  per  acre,  and  when  the  orange-trees  have 
come  into  good  bearing,  at  $1000,  which  but  a  few  years 
ago  were  purchased  at  a  dollar  and  a  quarter  an  acre. 

All  these  places  have  their  local  rivalries,  though 
Southern  California  as  a  whole  is  ready  to  unite  in  vin- 
dicating its  peculiar  claims,  against  the  outside  world. 
All  have  their  pamphlets  to  distribute,  containing  their 
tables  of  mean  temperatures,  altitudes,  analyses  of  soils, 
and  claims  to  regard,  as  based  upon  nearness  to,  or  ab- 
sence from,  some  particular  natural  feature.  Thus  the 
coast  counties  take  leave  to  pride  themselves  upon  a 
genial  average  of  temperature,  owing  to  their  proximity 
to  the  sea.  They  are  free,  they  say,  from  the  extremes 
of  heat  and  cold  afflicting  those  which  are  shut  in  behind 
the  mountain  barriers.  The  inland  counties,  on  the  other 
hand,  congratulate  themselves  that  their  lot  is  cast  where 
the  mountains  form  an  efficient  defence  against  the  raw 
fogs  and  gusts  which  must  necessarily  afflict  those  direct- 
ly exposed  to  the  chilly  ocean. 

These  petty  rivalries  are  a  part  of  the  history  of  all 
new  countries,  and  |)ass  away  with  the  development  of 
poi)ulation  and  trade.  There  seems  no  need  of  jeal- 
ousies, since  there  is  encouragement  enough  for  all  in 
their  several  wnys.  The  Territories  of  Arizona  and  New 
Mexico  have  just  been   opened   to  transportation  by  rail 


454         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

from  tin's  quarter.  The  lands  suitable  for  the  cultivation 
of  the  "citrus  fruits"  are  limited  in  extent.  The  mar- 
ket is  much  more  likely  to  improve  than  decline,  even 
Mhen  production  shall  have  lar<i;ely  increased  beyond  its 
present  rate.  Iligh  railroad  freights  were  at  one  time  a 
cause  of  alarm.  The  making  of  an  "orange  wine"  was 
pi'oposed  as  a  resource  for  using  up  the  surplus  crop  of 
this  kind.  The  experiment  was  not  a  success,  but  it  is 
not  likely  to  be  needed.  Freights  have  declined,  and 
will  decline  more  with  the  building  of  projected  new 
roads.  Shipments  of  oranges  have  been  successfully 
made  from  this  section  as  far  away  as  Denver,  Chicago, 
and  St.  Louis. 

II. 

Y  Great  things   are  predicted  for  Wilmington,  a   little 

port  twenty-two  miles  to  the  south-west  of  Los  Angeles. 
The  extensive  works  undertaken  here  by  the  railroad  and 
the  United  States  government  are  still  incomplete,  and 
it  is  but  a  dreary  little  place  in  its  present  condition. 
However,  great  ports  have  never  been  selected  primarily 
for  picturesqueness,  but  in  accordance  with  such  commer- 
cial necessities  as  short  lines  of  transit,  easy  grades,  and 
convenience  for  shipping.  Wilmington  had  few  natural 
conveniences  to  offer.  There  were  originally  but  eight- 
een inches  of  water  on  its  bar.  This  has  been  increased 
to  ten  feet.  An  enormous  jetty,  6700  feet  long,  extend- 
ing out  to  what  is  called  Dead  Man's  Island,  is  under 
construction.  It  is  to  force  the  tide  itself  to  do  the  duty 
of  scouring  out  the  bottom,  so  that  a  ship  channel  sev- 
eral miles  long  will  eventually  be  secured. 
^  Santa  Monica  is  another  small  port  at  the  end  of  a 
branch  railroad  from  Los  Angeles,  sixteen  miles  directly 
west,  and  somewhat  famed  as  a  sea-side  resort.     It  has  a 


^■.l.V  DIEGO,  AXD    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       455 

hotel  of  considerable  size,  and  a  bold  situation  on  a  pret- 
ty horseshoe  bay.  The  beach  is  of  fine,  hard  sand  ;  and 
tiie  temperature  admits  of  batliing,  if  one  be  inclined  for 
it,  all  the  year  round.  The  hopes  which  were  at  one 
time  entertained  by  capitalists,  like  Senator  Jones,  of 
Nevada,  of  making  the  place  a  great  shipping  point, 
have  been  for  the  present  abandoned.  It  was  to  have 
been  the  Pacific  terminus  of  a  new  through  line  from 
the  East,  coming  by  way  of  the  Cajon  Pass.  A  wharf 
1500  feet  long  was  built,  and  a  breakwater  proposed. 


OLD   MISSION    AT   SANTA   BARBARA. 


From  here,  or  from  Wilmington,  you  sail  up  the  coast 
to  San  Buenaventura  and  Santa  Barbara — favored  by  in- 
valids. These  places  have  as  yet  no  railroad,  but  must 
before  long  come  into  the  general  system.  Both  are  on 
that  sheltered  stretch  of  the  coast  which,  from  Point 
Conception,  makes  a  sharp  turn  to  the  eastward,  and  has 
direct   southern  exposure   and    a  view  of   the  islands  of 


1 


456         OLD  MEXICO   AND   HER   LOST  riiOVINCES. 

Santa  B.irbara  Channel.  Santa  Barbara,  on  its  practical" 
side,  has  devoted  more  attention  than  most  places  to  the 
culture  of  the  olive — an  industry  still  much  in  its  infan- 
cy. Some  of  the  cultivators  have  provided  themselves 
with  a  machinery,  which  costs  about  a  thousand  dollars, 
for  expressing  the  oil.  As  a  condiment  the  fruit  is  not 
pickled  green  here,  like  the  Spanish  olive,  but  ripe  and 
black.  It  may  be  that  a  special  education  is  needed  for 
liking  each  variety  of  olives,  as  it  is  for  acquiring  the 
taste  in  the  beginning.  Those  here  are  of  a  small  varie- 
ty, descending  from  the  old  mission  times,  and  it  is  hard 
not  to  find  them  either  insipid  or  bitter.  The  leading 
shipment  from  San  Buenaventura  is  honey.  A  million 
pounds  per  annum  from  Yentura  County,  of  which  it  is 
the  capital,  is  not  an  unusual  product. 

III. 

I  sailed  from  Wilmington  to  San  Diego.  I  embarked 
in  the  evenino;  in  a  small  tusf,  which  steamed  down  the 
tortuous  windings  of  the  channel,  past  black  lighters  that 
Whistler  would  have  liked  to  etch,  and  past  Dead  Man's 
Island,  and  transferred  us  on  board  a  coast  steamer  wait- 
ing without.  Next  morning  we  were  at  our  destination, 
a  hundred  miles  below.  San  Diego,  rising  on  a  gentle 
slope,  makes  a  pretty  appearance  from  the  water.  A 
United  States  barracks  (yellow),  with  a  flag-staff  rising  in 
the  centre,  is  the  most  prominent  object  in  fro4it.  You 
round  an  immensely  long,  narrow  sand-spit  of  a  penin- 
sula, which  contributes  to  form  the  excellent  small  har- 
bor, and  make  fast  to  an  immensely  long  mooring  wharf. 
It  is  a  feature  of  all  California  ports  to  have  inunensely 
long  wharves.  To  the  left  is  "Old  Town,"  its  beach 
where  Dana   once   loaded    hides   in    his    famous    "  Two 


SAX  DIEGO,  AND    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       457 


458         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Years  Before  tlic  Mast,"  now  the  site  of  a  Chinese  fish- 
ing vilhige.  To  the  right  is  brand-new  "National  City," 
the  location  of  tlie  shops  and  extensive  depot  grounds 
for  the  new  railway.  In  tlie  centre,  at  about  four  miles 
from  either,  lies  "New  Town,"  San  Diego  proper.  All 
together  have  a  population  of  about  five  thousand. 

As  we  came  up  to  the  wliarf  a  locomotive,  starting 
from  National  City  on  the  new  track,  made  the  circuit 
of  the  water-front,  with  one  long,  shrill  scream,  which 
was  taken  up  by  the  hills  and  echoed  back.  Gods  and 
men  were  no  longer  to  remain  ignorant  that  San  Diego 
had  at  last  caught  up  with  its  future  and  had  its  rail- 
road. 

It  was  cruelly  disappointed  when  it  was  to  be  the  ter- 
minus of  the  Texas  Pacific,  transcontinental,  road.  The 
panic  of  '73  prevented  the  capitalist  "Tom  Scott"  from 
negotiating  the  foreign  loan  which  was  needed  for  its 
completion.  That  enterprise  was  abandoned,  and  a  half- 
mile  of  graded  road-bed  alone  remains  as  a  sort  of  tumu- 
lus to  the  bligiited  hopes  and  bitter  memories  of  the 
time.  The  name  of  the  unfortunate  "Tom  Scott" — 
since  defunct — remains  also  a  byword  and  a  reproach. 
Now,  however,  the  "  California  Southern  "  is  actually  at 
work,  and  under  contract  to  complete  the  one  hundred 
and  sixteen  miles  necessary  to  meet  the  Southern  Pacific, 
at  a  point  near  San  Bernardino,  within  a  short  time.  It 
is  to  be  a  link  in  the  new  "  Atlantic  and  Pacific,"  which 
is  to  follow  the  thirtj'-fiftli  parallel,  and  become  a  trans- 
continental road  by  means  of  connection  with  the  Atchi- 
son, Topeka,  and  Santa  Fe. 

The  capital  and  management  of  the  California  Southern 
are  largely  supplied  by  the  same  Boston  company  direct- 
ing the  Mexican  Central,  the  line  to  Guaymas  from  the 
Arizona  frontier,  and  others.    A  farther  road  is  projected 


SAN  DIEGO,  AND    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       459 

by  them  eastward  from  San  Diego  to  Calabasas,  passing 
tlirough  Port  Ysabel,  at  the  head  of  the  Gulf  of  Califor- 
nia. This  can  be  more  cheaply  built  below  the  Mexican 
frontier  than  on  this  side,  owing  to  special  exemptions 
there  to  be  had  from  taxation,  and  the  lower  rates  of 
labor.  It  is  thought  that  the  Southern  Pacific  will  also 
be  compelled  by  competition  to  build  across  from  Yuma. 
Hopes  are  still  entertained  also  of  the  derelict  Texas  Pa- 
cific. With  all  this  in  prospect,  it  will  be  seen  that  San 
Diego  has  justification  for  making  a  good  deal  of  stir.  It 
claims  to  be  hundreds  of  miles  nearer,  than  San  Francis- 
co, to  New  Orleans  and  New  York,  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  Orient  on  the  other,  and  is  correspondingly  cheerful. 

A  hand-car  on  the  long  wharf  conveyed  our  baggage 
into  the  town  while  we  walked  beside  it.  The  town,  be- 
ing reached,  is  found  a  place  of  loose  texture.  It  has  a 
disproportionately  large  hotel,  the  Horton  House,  built  in 
anticipation  of  the  rapid  arrival  of  its  future  greatness, 
and  a  loss  to  its  original  proprietor.  The  blue  shades 
were  down  and  the  plate-glass  windows  dusty  also,  with 
an  expectant  look,  in  much  of  the  "  Horton  Block,"  op- 
posite. After  '73  half  the  shutters  in  San  Diego  were 
put  up.  They  have  come  down  now,  however,  and  prob- 
ably to  stay. 

There  is  a  charming  view  of  the  harbor  and  blue  ocean 
from  the  upper  slopes  of  the  town.  Part  of  the  view  is 
a  group  of  bold  Mexican  islands,  the  boldest  of  these, 
Coronado,  a  solid  mass  of  red  sandstone,  which  Amer- 
icans have  tried  to  get  for  a  quarry,  without  success. 
Yes,  here  is  Old  Mexico  once  more ;  we  have  come  back 
to  it.  The  high,  flat-topped  peak  of  Table  Mountain  marks 
it  unmistakably.  It  is  customary  to  drive  down  to  "  the 
Monument,"  set  up  on  the  dividing  line  of  Baja  (Lower) 
California,  but  the  excursion  is  without  special  interest. 


4G0 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


The  chronic  condition  of  shutters  in  San  Diego  "Old 
Town  "  is  to  be  "  np,"  that  is,  so  far  as  it  can  be  said 
to  have  any  shutters  yet  remaining.  It  dates  from 
1769.  Disadvantageously  situated  in  regard  to  the  bay, 
it  began  to  be  deserted  in  favor  of  the  newer  site  about 
ten  years  ago.  Nothing  could  seem  niore  desolate  than 
it  is  now.  The  usual  old  mission,  with  a  few  palms  and 
olives  about  it,  stands  in  a  valley,  up  the  pretty  San  Diego 
River,  and  the  earth woi'ks  of  Commodore  Stockton,  who 
threw  them  up  one  night  before  the  enemy  knew  he  was 
ashore,  are  seen  on  a  hill.  Rents  should  be  cheap  in  Old 
Town,  but,  according  to  the  gossips  who  still  sit  around 
the  decayed  old  plaza,  they  are  not.  The  owners  hold 
them  stiffly  yet,  on   what   theory  Heaven    only  knows. 


OLD    MISSION    AT   SAN    DIEGO. 


The  plaza  has  a  toppling  liag-^tafF,  a  decayed  music-stand, 
and  vestiges  of  a  number  of  burned  edifices,  which  have 
never  been  worth  anybody's  while  to  bnild  up  again. 
The  "MercIuDits'  Exchange"  will  never  supply  cocktails 
to  thirsty  soul  again;  the  Cosmopolitan  Hotel  is  without 
a  gnest ;  whole  rows  of  weather-beaten  adobes  —  whole 
quarters — stand  vacant.  It  should  be  a  great  place  for 
ghosts.  But  perhaps  they  do  not  care  for  one  another's 
society.     The  children,  coming  from  school — for  thei'e  is, 


SAN  DIEGO,  AND    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       461 

it  seems,  a  school — amuse  themselves  witli  knocking  at 
and  rattling  the  vacant  doors;  then  they  peer  in  at  the 
broken  window-panes  and  shout,  and  run  laughing  away. 


IV. 

In  leaving  San  Diego  I  traversed  the  surveyed  line  of 
the  new  railroad  almost  due  northward.  A  thirtj'-mile 
section  of  the  railroad  was  already  built.  The  rest  of  the 
journey  was  made  by  wagon,  with  an  occasional  half-day's 
pedestrianism,  for  which  the  dry,  smooth  sufface  of  the 


DON    JUAN    FOUSTKU. 


ground  is  well  adapted.  It  afforded  opportunity  of  mak- 
ing the  acquaintance  in  a  leisurely  way  of  some  of  the 
ranchmen,  small  and  great,  of  the  old  school.  The  prin- 
cipal one  of  these  was  Don  Juan  Forster  (deceased  since 


462 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


this  visit),  well  known  in  his  section.  He  was  English  by 
birth,  but  sailed  with  his  father  in  a  trading  vessel,  and 
became  a  Mexican  subject  and  resident  of  California  long 


SENORA    FORSTER. 


before  the  American  conquest.  It  was  so  long  before 
that  he  had  well-nigh  forgotten  his  English,  and  had  to 
learn  it  over  again  when  the  Americans  arrived.  The 
Seiiora,  a  sister  of  Governor  Pio  Pico,  never  learned  it 
at  all,  any  more  than  her  conservative  brother. 

Don  Juan's  estate,  the  Santa  Margarita  Ranch,  com- 
prised an  area  of  twenty-seven  miles  by  fourteen,  or  one 
hundred  and  fortj'-five  thousand  acres  of  land.  There 
was  one  fence  seventeen  miles  in  length,  and  another 
ten.  The  owner  had  made  two  distinct  efforts  to  col- 
onize a  portion  of  his  land,  without  great  success.  He 
had  offered  in  London  to  give  forty  acres  and  the  use  of 
three  cows  and  two  horses  to  whoever  would  put  upon 


SAN-  DIEOO,  AND   THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       463 


4G-i  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

the  land  improvements,  in  the  shape  of  houses,  vineyards, 
etc.,  to  the  amount  of  $1000. 

The  Santa  Margarita  ranch -house  is  of  adobe,  very 
thick-walled,  with  a  terrace  in  front,  and  an  interior 
court.  The  waiting  at  table  was  by  a  broad-faced  In- 
dian woman  in  calico.  All  the  domestic  service  was  per- 
formed by  mission  Indians,  except  the  cooking,  for  which 
a  Chinaman  had  lately  been  secured,  with  the  view  of 
having  meals  on  time.  The  manner  of  living  on  these 
great  places  was  found  comfortable,  bnt  without  the 
"princel}'"  features  attributed  to  it  in  some  of  the  highly 
colored  narratives  of  former  travellers. 

The  greater  part  of  the  available  land  in  the  section 
was  devoted  to  pasture.  The  cereals  were  cultivated,  but 
not  much  fruit.  Barley  is  the  favorite  cereal,  as  less  lia- 
ble to  "  rust"  and  spoil  than  wheat.  Hay  is  made,  not  of 
grass,  but  of  wheat  and  barley  straw,  cut  green,  with  the 
milk  still  in  it.  Bee-culture  is  an  important  industry.  A 
number  of  varieties  of  wild  sage,  wild  buckwheat  and 
sumac,  furnish  the  bees  exceptionally  good  provender. 
Rows  of  the  square  hives,  painted  in  colors,  were  often 
seen  districted  into  little  streets  on  the  hill-side,  or  at 
the  mouth  of  some  small  canon,  like  a  miniature  city. 

Before  reaching  Don  Juan  Forster's  the  old  mission  of 
San  Luis  Bey  is  encountered,  in  the  hamlet  of  the  same 
name.  It  is  almost  Venetian  in  aspect.  The  whole  ex- 
terior was  at  one  time  faced  with  a  diagonal  pattern  re- 
calling that  of  the  Ducal  Palace.  The  pile  was  ruined 
by  a  Mormon  contingent  of  the  American  forces  engaged 
in  the  conquest  of  the  State.  Parts  of  the  heavy  adobe 
walls  and  buttresses  have  fallen  in,  and  resolved  them- 
selves back  into  their  origiruil  element  as  mere  earth- 
heaps.  The  images  have  been  shot  and  hacked  down, 
and  a  yawning  cavern  was  excavated  behind  the  main 


SAX  DIKdO,  A.VD    TIIK  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       -405 

altar  in  search  of  fancied  treasure.  U])oii  a  floor  strewn 
with  sucli  debris  and  with  fragments  of  red  tiles  the  day- 
light falls  curiously,  through  lioles  in  the  broken  roof 
and  dome. 


SAN   LUIS   RET. 


The  railroad  traverses  some  striking  natural  scenery. 
Most  notable  is  the  Temecula  Caiion,  a  gorge  of  a  wild 
and  grand  description,  ten  miles  in  length,  through  the 
Coast  Range.  A  brawling  stream  runs  down  its  centre. 
The  gorge  was  filled  with  a  busy  force,  as  we  passed,  ter- 
racing up  the  track  along  its  sides,  sometimes  on  the 
natural  rock,  sometimes  on  a  Cyclopean  retaining-wall  of 
immense  bowlders.  Toward  evening  every  day  the  firing 
of  heavy  blasts  reverberated  up  the  defile  like  a  cannon- 
ade. The  main  pai"t  of  the  laboring  force  consisted  of 
Ciiinamen.  They  had  utilized  the  shelving  ledges  and 
random  nooks  by  the  stream  for  their  tents  and  cooking- 
ovens  with  great  ingenuity.  The  Mexicans  and  Indians, 
mIio  formed  the  contingent  next  in  importance,  were  iii 
every  way  less  provident.  The  surveyors  were  found 
pleasant  and  hospitable  fellows,  as  surveyors  at  the  scene 
of  their  labors  are  apt  to  be.     (compactness  and  conveni- 

20* 


466 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


ence  had  been  reduced  to  the  lowest  terms,  but  a  pleasant 
existence  seemed  possible  in  their  small  tents.  A  Chi- 
nese cook  was  attached  to  each  camp,  and  the  provisions 
and  fare  were  excellent. 

While  coming  up  in  the  construction-train  over  the 
section  of  already  completed  road  we  had  the  distinc- 
tion of  being  waited  on  by  a  servant  of  rather  uncom- 
mon pretensions.     This  was  a  certain  "  Charley,"  a  shock- 


A  TICHBORNE   CLAIMANT. 


headed  boy  of  fourteen,  son  of  a  later  Tichborne  claim- 
ant, who  had  strangely  arisen  at  San  Diego  just  then, 
and  announced  his  purpose  of  again  contesting  the  title. 


SAX  BIEGO,  AND    THE  MEXICAN  FRONTIER.       407 

Though  serving  in  a  menial  capacity — wliile  liis  father, 
who  chiimed  to  liave  good  and  sufficient  reason  for  hav- 
ing kept  quiet  till  now,  was  taking  the  necessary  steps  to 
secure  the  long-lost  title  and  fortune — "Charley"  was 
deaf  to  all  banter  on  the  subject.  He  was  supercilious 
and  firm  in  the  faith  that  he  too  was  a  Tichborne. 

"  And  don't  you  forget  it,"  he  threw  out  to  us  by  way 
of  a  parting  injunction. 

Out  of  the  caiion,  at  the  van  of  the  construction  work, 
we  were  on  the  Temecula  Plains,  a  part  of  the  Upper 
Santa  Ana  Yalley.  Tiie  course  of  the  road  was  marked 
henceforth  only  by  an  occasional  surveyor's  stake.  We 
rode  over  fifty  miles  of  absolutely  treeless,  verdureless 
desert.  It  was  desert,  however,  with  a  certain  fascina- 
tion in  its  sterility.  It  had  a  distinct  beauty  of  coloring. 
The  brown,  drab,  and  blackish  waste,  catching  sparkles 
of  light  on  its  fiinty  surface,  shimmered  in  the  sunshine. 
The  heat  was  tempered  by  a  gentle  breeze.  Crags  of 
black,  water-worn  rock,  which  had  once  been  reefs  in 
an  inland  sea,  rose  in  bold,  fantastic  shapes,  and  noble 
mountain  ranges  stood  np  along  the  distant  horizons, 
their  rugged  harshness  softened  into  blues  and  purples 
by  a  delicious  veiling  atmosphere. 

Half-way  across  we  fell  in  with  a  single  sign  of  human 
life,  in  the  shape  of  an  abandoned  pine  shanty.  On  go- 
ing around  to  the  rear  the  boards  were  found  to  have 
been  knocked  off,  probably  to  be  used  for  fuel.  Some 
former  travellers,  halting  here  like  ourselves,  had  occu- 
pied a  part  of  their  leisure  with  writing  inscriptions  in 
lead-pencil.  One  had  written  a  direction  about  drink- 
able water  in  the  neighborhood.  Another,  apparently 
finding  this  erroneous,  had  inscribed  below  it,  with  much 
more  vigor  than  regard  for  adopted  usages  in  spelling, 
"Lyor!!" 


468  OLD    MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

The  sole  piece  of  funiiture  remaining  was  a  rusted 
cooking-stove,  standing  on  three  legs.  It  had  a  certain 
almost  diabolic,  knowing  air.  You  suspected  it  of  hav- 
ing lost  its  other  leg  in  waltzing  about  and  holding  high 
carnival,  as  no  doubt  it  did,  with  the  coyotes,  gophers, 
tarantulas,  and  lizards  who  dropped  in  to  pay  it  visits. 


ACROSS  ARIZONA.  469 


XXX. 

ACROSS  ARIZONA. 


If  there  be  anything  politically  disrupting  in  mere  to- 
pography, the  section  cut  off  by  the  range  below  the  Los 
Angeles  and  Riverside  country  should  also  be  made  a 
sej>arate  State.  It  should  clamor  at  any  rate  to  be  joined 
to  Arizona,  since  it  is  Arizona  tliat  it  follows  in  climate, 
and  not  California.  South-east  of  the  low  San  Gorgonio 
Pass  the  seasons  are  the  same  as  those  of  Mexico ;  that  is 
to  say,  the  rains  fall  in  summer,  while  northward  they  fall 
in  the  winter  and  spring.  Thunder-storms  on  each  side 
of  the  mountains  may  be  plainly  visible  from  the  other, 
but  do  not  pass  the  limit. 

I  myself  saw,  from  the  Arizona  side,  in  December,  in 
hot,  clear  sunshine  at  the  time,  murky  clouds  billowing 
above  the  range,  and  the  lightnings  playing  in  them,  and, 
on  returning  to  Los  Angeles,  found  it  drenched  in  its 
first  showers  of  the  season. 

There  is  one  excellent  reason  why  the  inhabitants  of 
the  section  do  not  raise  such  a  clamor,  which  is,  that  there 
are  no  inhabitants  worth  mentioning.  For  a  hundred 
and  fifty  miles,  from  the  pass,  to  the  Arizona  frontier  at 
Yuma,  the  railroad  hardly  knows  any  local  traffic.  Its 
route  is  over  the  celebrated  "  Colorado  Desert,"  in  com- 
parison with  which  previous  deserts  are  of  small  impor- 
tance.    There  are  various  stopping-places,  with  designa- 


470         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

tions  on  the  map,  but  these  are  rarely  more  than  signal- 
stations  where  the  locomotive,  like  the  passengers,  stops 
to  slake  its  thirst  at  a  series  of  artesian  wells. 

The  plain  is  not  of  great  extent  laterally.  Elack  and 
purplish  mountains  are  always  in  sight,  and  spurs  cross 
the  track.  Bowlders  and  pebbles  are  scattered  thickly  on 
the  surface  at  first,  among  patches  of  bunch-grass.  Then, 
near  Seven  Palms,  the  jaws  of  the  black  and  purple  moun- 
tains open  and  receive  us  into  the  genuine  desert.  It  is 
strewn  with  bowlders  still,  but  is  itself  a  waste  of  drifting 
white  sand,  with  large  dunes  and  hills  of  sand.  One  might 
be  riding  on  the  shores  of  Coney  Island  or  Long  Branch. 

A  singular  depression  below  the  level  of  the  sea  for  a 
hundred  miles,  and  at  its  lowest  point  nearly  three  hun- 
dred feet,  is  traversed.  At  Dos  Palmas,  in  the  very  bot- 
tom of  it,  a  board  shanty,  covered  with  signs  in  amateur- 
ish lettering,  indicating  that  it  is  a  saloon,  stands  entirely 
alone.  Surely  the  bar-keeper  must  consume  his  own 
drinks,  and  lead  an  existence  unprecedented  among  his 
kind.  No;  a  horseman  in  Mexican  accoutrements  dash- 
es across  the  plain — though  where  he  should  dash  from, 
and  how  he  should  ride  anything,  here  in  the  bottom  of 
the  sea,  but  the  skeleton,  say,  of  a  dolphin  or  a  sea-horse, 
is  a  mystery — pulls  up,  and  enters. 

And  it  appears,  on  a  better  acquaintance  with  Dos 
Palmas,  that  a  stage  starts  every  other  day  for  points 
on  the  Colorado  Piver,  and  Prescott,  the  capital  of  Ari- 
zona Territory,  and  that  this  is  but  a  faint  survival  of 
bustle  which  once  reigned  here  before  the  advent  of  the 
railroad.  The  route  of  the  Southern  Overland  Mail  then 
came  this  way,  and  long  trains  of  immigrant  and  freight 
wagons,  carrying  water  in  casks  for  two  and  three  days' 
supply,  were  passing  continually  over  these  wastes. 

Nothing,  on  general  principles,  would  appear  more  de- 


ACROSS  ARIZONA.  471 

pressing  than  such  a  country,  but  as  a  matter-of-fact  it  is 
a  stiiiiuhis  to  the  curiosity,  and  furnishes  real  entertain- 
ment. One  would  not  wish  to  be  abandoned  tliere  with- 
out resources,  it  is  true,  but  he  does  not  tire  of  looking 
at  it  from  the  car-window.  Its  blazing  dryness  is  dis- 
infectant and  preservative.  There  can  never  exist  the 
last  extreme  of  sadness  where  the  element  of  decay  by 
damp  and  mould  is  not  present.  Chemical  processes 
are  those  which  are  principally  going  on.  Wonders  of 
almost  any  sort  may  be  expected,  and  you  almost  look 
for  phantoms  not  of  earth  among  the  shifting  mirages. 

A  considerable  part  of  Arizona,  as  well,  is  of  the  same 
character,  but  it  is  estimated  by  competent  authority  that 
with  irrigation  thirty-seven  per  cent,  of  that  Territory  can 
be  redeemed  for  agriculture,  and  sixty  per  cent,  as  pastur- 
age. It  will  be  called  to  mind  that  even  the  apparently 
hopeless  Colorado  Desert,  which  is  below  the  level  of  the 
sea,  is  also  below  the  level  of  the  Colorado  River,  from 
which  water  might  perhaps  be  spread  over  it  with  com- 
parative ease. 

The  truly  patriotic  Arizonian  in  their  neighborhood 
is  not  ashamed  of  his  encompassing  deserts,  but  rather 
proud  of  them,  and  with  a  certain  reason.  The  desert  is 
in  reality  a  laboratory  of  useful  products.  Paper  is  made 
from  the  yucca,  or  Spanish-bayonet,  which  abounds  in 
parts  of  it.  There  are  tracts  of  salt,  borax,  gypsum,  sul- 
phur, asbestos,  and  kaolin,  and  quarries  of  pumice-stone, 
only  waiting  shipment.  It  is  nuiintained,  also,  that  it 
has  deposits  of  the  same  precious  metals  which,  mined 
in  places  where  water  is  more  accessible,  have  given  the 
Territory  most  of  its  present  fame. 

Our  train  runs  out  upon  a  long  wooden  drawbridge, 
across  the  Colorado  River,  and  we  arrive  at  Yuma.  The 
company  has  placed  here  the  first  of  its  series  of  hotels 


472  OLD   MEXICO   AND  HER    LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  uiiifonn  pattern.  It  is  both  station  and  hotel.  Such 
provision  on  an  equal  scale  of  comfort  would  hardly  have 
been  judicious  jet  as  an  investment  for  private  persons. 
These  structures  therefore  become  not  only  a  typical 
feature  of  the  scenery,  but  an  indication  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  railroad  has  had  to,  and  has  been  able  to,  by 
reason  of  its  ample  resources,  take  this  bare  new  country 
into  its  own  hands.  They  are  of  the  usual  reddish-brown, 
two  stories  in  heiglit,  and  surrounded  by  piazzas  of  gener- 
ous width — an  indispensable  adjunct  under  the  dazzling 
light  and  heat  of  the  country. 


II. 

The  heat  of  Yuma  is  proverbial.  The  thermometer 
ranges  up  to  127°  in  the  shade.  There  is  an  old  story 
of  a  soldier  who  died  at  the  fort  and  w^ent  to  the  place 
which  Bob  Ingersoll  says  does  not  exist,  and,  finding  it 
chilly  there  by  comparison,  sent  back  after  his  blankets. 

Great  heat,  nevertheless,  is  not  equally  formidable 
everywhere.  It  is  well  attested  that  there  is  no  sun- 
stroke here,  and  no  such  suffering  as  from  a  much  low- 
er temperature  in  moister  climates.  Distinct  sanitary 
properties  are  even  claimed  for  this  well-baked  air.  So 
near  the  sea-level,  it  is  said  to  be  less  rarefied,  and  to 
comprise,  therefore,  a  greater  quantity  of  oxygen  to  a 
given  bulk,  than  that  of  mountain  districts,  which,  in  pur- 
ity and  dryness,  it  resembles.  It  is  thought  to  be  benefi- 
cial in  lung  troubles.  Yuma,  among  its  arid  sand-hills,  has 
aspirations  to  be  a  sanitarium.  Civilized  people  also  may 
yet  resort  there  to  engage  in  a  sensible  sun-worship,  bask- 
ing in  the  genial  heat,  and  then  plunging  into  the  river, 
after  the  fashion  of  the  resident  Indians,  who  make  of  it 
in  this  way  a  kind  of  natural  Turkish  bath. 


ACEOSS  ARIZONA. 


473 


474         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

A  transition  state  may  have  disadvantages,  even  when 
a  step  toward  something  better.  Yuma  has  now  its  rail- 
road, and  is  to  have  a  shipping-port  of  its  own,  by  the 
constrnction  of  another  to  Fort  Ysabel,  on  the  Gulf  of 
California.  Still,  it  laments  a  greater  activity  it  once  en- 
joyed, as  chief  distributing  point  for  the  mines  and  upper 
river  towns.  It  expects  the  Port  Ysabel  Kailroad  to  have 
the  effect  of  doubling  its  population  in  two  years.  It  will 
not  be  a  very  stujDendous  population  even  then,  as  it  is 
but  fifteen  hundred  at  present. 

The  town  is  a  collection  of  inferior  adobe  houses,  a  few 
of  the  very  best  being  altered  from  the  natural  mud-color  . 
by  a  coating  of  whitewash.  The  ordinary  part  of  it  re- 
sembles more  the  poor  tropical  hamlets  on  the  trail  to 
Acapulco  than  even  the  ordinary  villages  of  Mexico. 
The  houses  consist  of  a  framework  of  cotton  wood  or 
ocotilla  wattles,  plastered  with  mud  inside  and  out, 
makino;  a  wall  two  or  three  inches  thick.  The  roof  is 
thatched,  the  floor  is  the  bare  ground.  Around  them 
are  generally  high  palisades  of  ocotilla  sticks,  and  corrals 
of  the  same  adjoining. 

The  waiters  in  a  Yuma  hotel  are  of  a  highly  miscella- 
neous character.  You  are  served,  in  the  same  dining- 
room,  by  Mexicans,  Chinamen,  Irish,  Americans,  and  a 
tame  Apache  Indian.  One  and  all  had  a  certain  as- 
tounded air,  ending  in  something  like  confirmed  depres- 
sion, on  finding  that  we  were  to  remain,  would  dine  at.  our 
leisure,  and  did  not  wish  to  have  the  dishes  shot  at  us  as 
if  out  of  a  catapult,  after  the  practice  with  the  ordinary 
traveller  pausing  here  his  allotted  half-hour.  One  does 
not  expect  too  much  of  his  waiter  in  Arizona,  however. 
There  are  reported  instances  in  which  he  makes  you  eat 
your  steak  with  his  hand  on  his  pistol  -  pocket,  and  the 
threat  of  wearing  it  out  on  you  if  you  object. 


ACROSS  ARIZONA.  475 

The  Colorado  at  Yuma  makes  about  the  same  impres- 
sion as  to  width  as  the  Sacramento  at  Sacramento,  tlie 
Ohio  at  Pittsburg,  or  the  Connecticut  at  Hartford.  It 
is  a  turbulent  yellow  stream.  It  cuts  into  liigh  sand 
bluils  on  the  Arizona  side,  and  spreads  out  their  contents 
in  wide  bars  on  the  California  side.  It  is  without  wharves. 
The  light  -  draught,  high  -  decked  steamboats,  or  barges, 
that  ply  up  and  down  its  interminable  reaches  tie  up 
when  necessary  to  the  banks. 

Mountains  of  a  jagged,  eccentric  formation  follow  its 
general  course  northward.  Peaks  impressively  counter- 
feiting human  work.  Castle  Dome,  Chimney  Peaks,  Pi- 
cacho,  and  Cargo  Muchacho,  loom  up  along  the  horizon, 
a  fitting  prelude  to  the  marvels  of  Arizona. 

It  was  at  the  close  of  an  Indian  war  that  this  visit  was 
made.  It  had  been  said,  in  rumors  much  exaggerated, 
tiiat  the  whole  white  civilization  of  the  Territory  was  in 
danger  by  the  outbreak,  and  troops — but  now  on  their 
return — had  been  hurried  thither  from  all  sides.  The 
first  view  of  Indians,  therefore,  at  Yuma  was  of  a  double 
interest.  They  were  not  Apaches,  it  is  true,  but  a 
subsequent  acquaintance  with  the  general  field  proved 
them  to  be  even  more  picturesque.  They  are  of  that 
higlily  satisfactory  style  of  savages  who  wear  but  little 
clothing,  and  none  of  it  European.  They  are  to  be  seen 
in  numbers  about  the  railway-station  by  the  most  casual 
passenger.  Tlie  railroad  is  still  new  to  them,  and  they 
have  not  satiated  their  curiosity.  They  bring  friends 
from  a  distance  to  see  it,  and  are  observed  describing  to 
these  visitors  how  the  drawbridge  swings,  and  how  the 
cars  are  switched  from  one  track  to  another. 

They  are  met  with  coming  across  this  bridge  from  the 
patch  of  river-bottom  near  the  fort  on  the  California  side, 
where  their  principal  settlement  is.     The  young  men  run 


476 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


or  stride  at  great  speed,  so  as  to  throw  out  behind  them  a 
long  red  sash  or  band,  depending  from  the  breech-cloth, 
whicli  is,  in  summer,  the  principal  part  of  their  attire. 
To  this  is  added,  in  winter,  a  close-fitting  gray  or  crim- 
son under-shirt.  They  wear  their  thick,  coal-black  hair 
"banged"  low  on  their  foreheads,  and  bushy  about  their 
necks.     The  effect  at  a  little  distance  is  not  unlike  that  of 


PASQUAL,   CHIEF    OF   THE    YDMAS. 

the  Florentine  period,  when  the  young  gallants  wore  jer- 
kins and  trunk  hose  fitting  them  like  their  skins,  and  just 
such  bushy  locks,  which  they  crowned,  however,  instead 
of  going  bare-headed,  with  jaunty  velvet  caps. 

The  fort  is  without  guns,  other  than  a  howitzer  for  fir- 
ing salutes,  and  has  no  strength,  as  it  no  longer  needs  to 
have,  except  from  its  position  on  a  commanding  bluff. 
The  military  policy  of  the  government  now  is  to  station 
its  troops  along  a  railroad  or  other  easy  line  of  communi- 


ACROSS  ARIZONA. 


477 


478  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

cation,  where  tliej  can  be  quickly  massed  for  mutual  sup- 
port. All  the  Arizona  posts,  snch  as  Camp  Lowell,  with 
its  grassy  parade  and  fine  avenue  of  cottonwoods;  Camp 
Grant,  on  its  table-land ;  and  Camp  Apache,  at  the  junc- 
tion of  two  charming  trout  streams,  in  the  White  River 
Canon ;  and  the  others,  have  only  this  strategic  impor- 
tance, and  no  intrinsic  strength.  The  barracks  at  Yuma 
consist  of  a  series  of  comfortable,  large,  adobe  houses,  plas- 
tered, and  painted  green,  around  an  oblong  plaza.  They 
Jiave  in  front  a  peculiar  screen-work  of  green  blinds, 
which  shuts  out  the  glare  arising  from  the  yellow  ground, 
and  makes  both  a  cool  promenade  and  comfortable  sleep- 
ing apartments  for  the  summer. 

The  chief  of  the  Yumas,  on  whose  settlement  the  fort 
looks  down,  chooses  his  sub-chiefs,  but  is  himself  appointed 
by  the  military  commandant.  The  last  investiture  was 
made  as  long  ago  as  1852,  by  General,  then  Major,  Heintz- 
elman.  He  conferred  it  upon  the  now  wrinkled  and  de- 
crepit Pasqual,  described  at  the  time  as  "a  tall,  fine-look- 
ing man,  of  an  agreeable  disposition." 

Pasqual's  people  cultivate  little  patches  of  vegetables 
and  hay  in  the  river-bottom,  fertilized  by  the  annual 
overflow.  Their  principal  sustenance,  however,  is  the 
sweet  bean  of  the  mesquit-tree.  This  they  pound,  in 
mortars,  into  a  kind  of  flour.  Sometimes,  when  on  the 
move,  the  Indians  float  their  hay  across  the  river  on  rafts, 
which  they  push  before  them,  swimming.  They  propel 
the  small  children  in  the  same  way,  placing  them  in  their 
large,  Egyptian -looking  ollas,  or  water-jars. 

The  crop  of  rnesquit  beans  was  so  large  one  year  as  to 
be  beyond  their  unaided  capacity  to  consume,  and  they 
hospitably  invited  in  their  friends,  the  Pimas,  to  aid  them. 
Old  Pasqual  describes  with  graphic  gestures  how  hag- 
irard  and  lank  were  these  visitors  on   their  arrival,  and 


ACROSS  ARIZONA.  479 

what  an  unctuous  corpulence  they  had  attained  in  the 
end,  when,  after  nearly  eating  their  hosts  out  of  house 
and  home,  they  were  only  got  rid  of  at  last  by  force. 


III. 

Few  things  are  more  curious  at  this  time  of  day  than 
to  look  back  at  the  old  maps  of  our  Western  possessions 
previous  to  the  annexation  of  Texas.  Texas  was  not  then 
ours  ;  nor  were  a  considerable  part  of  Indian  Territorj-, 
Kansas,  half  of  Colorado,  all  of  Utah,  Nevada,  Califor- 
nia, Arizona,  and  New  Mexico.  All  of  this  belonged 
to  our  sister  republic  of  Mexico,  which,  as  I  have  said, 
was  within  an  ace  as  large  as  ourselves,  and,  except  for 
its  internal  dissensions,  could  by  no  means  be  considered 
a  puny  antagonist. 

An  impressive  vagueness  attended  the  delineation  of 
most  things  west  of  the  Mississippi.  There  were  great 
tracts  hardly  more  known  than  the  centre  of  Africa. 
The  upper  regions  of  Mexico  were  distinguished  as  In- 
terna;  New  Mexico  and  Arizona  were  simply  Apacheria 
— Apache  Land.  Our  frontier  ran  along  the  line  of  the 
Sabine  River  to  the  Red,  from  the  Red  to  the  Arkansas, 
and  from  the  Arkansas,  on  the  42d  Parallel  of  latitude, 
straight  west  to  the  Pacific  Ocean.  By  the  peace  of 
Guadalupe  Hidalgo  our  frontier  became  the  Rio  Grande 
and  Gila  instead,  and  the  line  had  dropped  from  Parallel 
40=^  to  Parallel  32°. 

I  have  called  this  territory  heretofore,  by  way  of  figure 
of  speech,  an  Alsace-Lorraine  of  Mexico,  though  it  is  not 
probable,  vacant  as  it  was,  and  Americanized  as  it  now  is, 
that  a  serious  grudge  is  still  borne  us  for  it,  or  that  there 
will  ever  be  momentous  wars  for  its  recovery.  How- 
ever this   may  be,  it  has  been   the  making  of   us.     We 


480  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

slionld  be  in  but  sorry  shape  indeed  had  we  to  go  back 
to  the  limits  of  the  tJiirteen  original  British  Colonies, 
or  even  to  these  with  Florida,  purchased  from  the  Span- 
iards, and  Louisiana,  pnrcliased  from  tlie  French,  added. 
The  Mexican  acquisition  gave  us  one-third  of  our  do- 
main— that  which  is  now  most  open  to  the  teeming  mill- 
ions of  Europe  and  that  which  avails  us  our  repute  for 
essential  Americanism  abroad.  It  gave  us  the  field  of 
the  Bret  Ilarte  school  in  literature,  our  chief  marvels 
and  wonders,  our  mines  of  the  precious  metals,  and  the 
command  of  the  Pacific  Ocean. 

The  lower  belt  of  Arizona  was  not  even  comprised  in 
this.  An  area  of  400  miles  by  130,  below  the  Gila  River, 
was  not  obtained  till  "the  Gadsden  Purchase,"  in  1853. 
By  the  payment  of  the  sum  of  $10,000,000  under  this 
treaty  we  obtained  a  number  of  decided  advantages. 
We  rectified  our  boundary  line,  confused  through  the  in- 
accuracy of  the  map  of  one  Dwindle,  on  which  it  was 
based.  We  got  rid  of  an  embarrassing  engagement,  of 
the  ti'eaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  to  protect  the  Mexican 
frontier  from  Apaches — leaving  them  to  regulate  this  ser- 
vice for  themselves.  We  secured  the  right  of  way  for  a 
railroad  across  the  Isthmus  of  Teh  nan  tepee,  which  was 
thought  desirable  for  speedier  communication  with  our 
new  possessions  of  California. 

But  above  all  we  acquired,  in  the  easy  levels  below 
the  Gila,  the  natural  route  for  a  Southei'n  Pacific  trans- 
continental railway.  The  files  of  the  Congressional 
Globe  of  that  date  are  full  of  the  necessity  of  binding 
our  Pacific  acquisitions  securely  to  the  rest  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  most  effectual  of  all  the  means  proposed  was 
considered  to  be  a  transcontinental  railway. 

Well,  we  are  bowling  at  last  along  that  tk»w  actual- 
ly constructed  Southei-n  Pacific  llailroad,  once  discussed 


ACJiOSS  xiRIZOXA.  481 

in  mustj  debates  of  the  Congressional  Globe.  It  increases 
our  respect  for  predecessors  to  whom  we  may  not  have 
given  any  great  consideration  heretofore  to  find  how 
sagacious  they  were.  We  reach  Stanwix,  with  its  hiva 
beds;  Painted  Rock,  named  from  huge,  mysteriously-dec- 
orated boM'lders ;  Casa  Grande,  from  its  architectural 
I'uins  of  the  Toltecs;  and  Tucson. 

Adopting  the  policy  of  leaving  Tucson  to  be  examined 
on  the  return,  let  us  push  on  to  the  extreme  end  of  the 
Territory — to  the  eccentricallj'-named  Tombstone.  Ben- 
son, the  point  of  departure,  from  the  railroad,  for  Tomb- 
stone, is  102-i  miles  from  San  Francisco,  and  probably 
2500  from  New  York. 


\ 


482         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  FROVINCES. 


XXXI. 

TOMBSTONE. 
I. 

Tombstone  is  the  very  latest  and  liveliest  of  those 
mushroom  civilizations  which  so  often  gather  around  a 
"  find  "  of  the  precious  metals.  They  live  at  a  headlong 
pace;  draw  to  them  wild  and  lawless  spirits;  confer  great 
fortunes  here,  the  grave  of  the  drunkard,  the  suicide,  or 
the  victim  of  violence  elsewhere.  A  school  of  literature, 
with  Bret  Harte  as  its  exponent,  has  arisen  to  celebrate 
their  doings.  At  the  present  rate  of  advance  of  popu- 
lation and  conventional  usages  westward  they  must  short- 
ly disappear  as  effectually  as  the  dodo  of  tradition.  While 
things  go  well  with  them  the  prices  of  commodities  are 
hardly  considered.  Nobody  haggles.  The  most  expen- 
sive of  everything  is  what  is  most  wanted. 

"Diamonds — two-hundred-dollar  watches  and  chains — 
Lord !  we  couldn't  hand  'etn  out  fast  enough,"  says  an 
ex-jeweller,  describing  his  expei'ience  at  one  of  the  camps 
in  its  palmy  days.  "  Champagne  w^asn't  good  enough 
for  me  then,"  says  a  seedy  customer,  recalling  his  doings 
after  the  discovery  and  sale  of  a  rich  mine.  He  sighed 
for  a  repetition  of  the  event,  not  to  make  provision  for 
his  old  age,  which  sadly  needed  it,  but  that  he  might 
have  "  one  more  glorious  spree  "  before  he  died. 

Oftentimes  this  rush  of  life  departs  as  quickly  as  it 
came.     Some  fine  day  the  "  lead  "  is  exhausted,  there  is 


TOMBSTOXE.  483 

found  to  be  no  more  treasure  in  the  mines.  The  hetero- 
<2;cneous  elements  scatter,  and  the  town,  be  it  never  so 
well  built,  is  left  as  desolate  as  Tadmor  of  the  Wilder- 
ness. In  a  certain  Nevada  mining  town,  which  once 
numbered  some  thousands  of  inhabitants,  Indians  are 
living  in  rows  of  good  brick  houses,  having  adapted 
them  to  their  peculiar  conditions  bj  taking  out  doors 
and  windows  and  knocking  holes  in  the  roof. 

A  six-horse  Concord  coach  carried  us,  not  too  speedily, 
over  the  twenty-five  miles  of  dusty  road  to  Tombstone. 
It  was  called  the  "  Grand  Central,"  after  one  of  the 
prosperous  silver  mines  of  the  place.  A  rival  line  was 
named  the  "  Sandy  Bob,"  from  its  proprietor;  who  pre- 
ferred to  be  himself  thus  known,  instead  of  by  a  conven- 
tional family  appellation  such  as  anybody  might  have. 
We  should  certainly  have  taken  the  "Sandy  Bob  Line" 
for  its  greater  suggestiveness,  except  that  it  seemed  to  be 
coming  down  when  we  wanted  to  go  up,  and  always  com- 
ing up  when  we  wanted  to  go  down. 

Our  own  proved  to  have  plenty  of  suggestiveness  too. 
A  guard  got  up  with  a  Winchester  rifle,  and  posted  him- 
self by  the  Wells-Fargo  Express  box,  and  the  driver  be- 
gan almost  at  once  to  relate  robber  stories.  His  stage 
had  been  stopped  and  "gone  through"  twice  within  the 
past  six  months.  The  affair  had  been  enlivened  on  the 
one  occasion  by  a  runaway  and  turnover,  and  on  the 
other  by  the  shooting  and  killing  of  the  driver.  Of  this 
last  item  his  successor  spoke  with  a  natural  disgust.  If 
the  line  could  not  be  drawn  at  drivers,  he  said,  things 
had  indeed  come  to  a  pretty  pass.  He  respected  a  man 
who  took  to  the  road  and  robbed  those  who  could  afford 
it.  At  least,  he  considered  it  more  honorable  than  bor- 
rowing money  of  a  friend  which  you  knew  you  could 
never  repay,  or  than  gobbling  up  the  earnings  of  the 


484  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


DISTANT    VIEW    OF    TOMDSTONK. 


poor,  like  a  large 
linn  lately  sus- 
pended in  Pima 
County.  But  as 
to  shooting  a  driv- 
er, even  in  mistake 
for  somebody  else, 
lie  had  no  words  to 
express  his  sense  of 
its  meanness. 

lie  threw  stones 
at  liis  horses,  as  in 
Mexico,  that  is,  at 
the  leaders,  beyond  the  reach  of  his  long  lash.  The 
same  stone  was  made  to  "  carom  "  from  one  to  the  other, 
such  was  his  skill,  and  startle  them  both.  Long  string- 
teams  of  mules  or  Texas  steers,  sixteen  to  a  team,  with 
ore-wagons,  were  met  with  along  the  road.  Mexican- 
looking  drivers  trudged  beside  them  in  the  deep,  yellow 
dust,  cracking  their  animals  lustily  M-ith  huge  "black- 
snakes."  Mesqnit-bushes,  and  long  grass  dried  to  hay 
— not  as  good  as  it  looked — covered  portions  of  the 
surface;  the  rest  was  bare  and  stony. 

We  rode  for  a  certain  dit^tancc  beside  the  branch  rail- 


TOMBSTOXE.  485 

i-oad  in  course  of  construction  between  Benson  and  Tuinb- 
stonc.  A  series  of  lateral  valleys  along  the  tributaries  of 
the  Gila,  north  and  south,  as  the  Santa  Cruz,  Salt  River, 
San  Carlos,  San  Pedro,  and  San  Simon  Valleys,  afford  ex- 
cellent stock  ranges,  promise  of  a  flourishing  agriculture, 
and  easy  routes  for  tributary  railways.  They  have  already 
begun  to  be  utilized.  The  San  Pedro  has  the  Southern 
Pacific  branch  above  mentioned,  and  the  Santa  Cruz  will 
liave  the  Arizona  Southern,  connecting  the  centre  of  the 
Territory  at  Florence,  on  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific,  with 
Mexico  at  Calabasas.  The  transcontinental  road  —  or 
roads,  when  the  Atlantic  and  Pacific  siiall  have  been 
built — will  draw  through  these  tributary  valleys,  as  the 
Gila  draws  its  waters,  a  trade  from  Northern  Mexico, 
where  mining  enterprises  in  particular,  in  the  hands  of 
Americans,  are  making  great  headway. 

The  route  began  to  be  very  much  up-hill.  We  changed 
horses  and  lunched  at  Contention  City.  One  naturally 
expected  a  certain  belligerency  in  such  a  ])lace,  but  none 
appeared  on  the  surface  during  our  stay.  There  were 
plenty  of  saloons — the  "Dew-drop,"  the  "  Ilead-light," 
and  others — and  at  the  door  of  one  of  them  a  Spanish 
seilorita  smoked  a  cigarette  and  showed  her  white  teeth. 

Contention  City  is  the  seat  of  stamp-mills  for  crushing 
ore,  which  is  brought  to  it  from  Tombstone.  The  latter 
place  is  without  an  efficient  water-power.  The  stamps 
are  rows  of  heavy  beams,  which  drop  upon  the  mineral, 
on  the  mortar  and  pestle  plan,  with  a  continuous  dull 
roar,  by  night  as  well  as  day. 

"  That's  the  music  I  like  to  hear,"  said  our  driver,  gath- 
ering up  his  reins,  "poundin'  out  the  gold  and  silver. 
There  ain't  no  brass  bands  ekils  it." 

The  route  grew  steeper  yet.  On  the  few  wayside 
fences  that  exist  were  painted  flaring  announcements,  as 


480  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

"  Go  To   Bangley   and   Sclilagensteiii's   At  Tombstone. 
They  Are  The  Bosses,  You  Bet." 

Then  over  the  edge  of  bare  hills  appeared  Tombstone 
itself,  a  large,  circular  water-tank,  big  enough  for  a  fort, 
painted  with  advertisements,  the  most  conspicuous  object 
in  the  foreground. 

II. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  year  1878  there  was  not  so 
much  as  a  tent  at  Tombstone.  One  "Ed"  Schieffelin 
and  his  brother  started  thither  prospecting.  It  was  sup- 
posed to  be  an  adventure  full  of  dangers.  At  the  Santa 
Rita  silver  mines,  in  the  Santa  Cruz  Valley,  for  instance, 
nothing  like  so  far  away,  three  superintendents  had  been 
murdered  by  Indians  in  rapid  succession. 

His  friends  therefore  said  to  Ed,  "  Better  take  your 
coffin  with  you  ;  you  will  find  your  tombstone  there,  and 
nothing  else." 

But  Ed  Schieffelin  —  a  young  man  yet,  who  has  not 
discarded  a  picturesque  way  of  dressing  of  which  he  was 
fond,  nor  greatly  altered  his  habits  otherwise — found  in- 
stead the  Tough  Nut  and  Contention  Mines.  He  made  a 
great  fortune  out  of  them,  and  was  so  pleased  at  the  dif- 
ference between  the  prediction  and  the  result  that  he 
gave  the  name  of  Tombstone  to  the  town  itself. 

One  of  two  well-printed  daily  papers  has  assumed  the 
corresponding  title  of  the  E])itaph.  The  unreliability  of 
epitaphs — if  the  remark  may  be  safely  ventured  even  at 
this  distance — is  proverbial.  Nevertheless,  they  may  oc- 
casionally tell  the  truth.  From  appearances  it  would 
seem  that  this  was  one  of  the  occasions.  Almost  any 
eulogy  of  its  subject  by  the  Epitaph  would  seem  justi- 
fied. The  city,  but  two  years  old  at  this  date,  had  at- 
tained to  a  population  of  2000,  and  a  property  valuation, 


TOMBSTONE. 


487 


apart  from  that  of  the  mines,  of  $1,050,980.  A  desirable 
lot  of  30  by  80  feet,  on  Allen  Street,  between  Fourth 
and  Sixth — such  was  the  business-like  nomenclature  used 
already  in  this  settlement  of  yesterday— was  worth  $6000. 


SCIIIKFKKI.IN. 


A  shanty  that  cost  $50  to  build  rented  for  $15  a  month. 
A  nucleus  of  many  blocks  at  the  centre  consisted  of  sub- 
stantial, large-sized  buildings,  hotels,  banks — Schieffelin 
Hall,  for  meetings  and  amusements — and  stores  stocked 
with  goods  of  more  than  the  average  excellence  in  many 
older  and  larger  towns. 


488         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Tlie  mining  claims  run  under  the  city  itself.  From 
the  roof  of  the  Grand  Hotel  yon  look  down  at  the  shafts, 
hoist-works,  and  heaps  of  extracted  ore  of  the  Yizina,  the 
Gilded  Age  (close  to  the  Palace  Lodging-house),  the 
Mountain  Maid,  and  other  mines,  opening  strangely  in 
the  very  midst  of  the  buildings.  This  circumstance  has 
given  rise  to  disputes  of  ownership,  so  that  whoever 
would  be  safe  purchases  all  the  conflicting  titles,  both 
above  ground  and  below.  On  a  commanding  hill  close 
by,  to  the  southward,  are  the  Tough  Nut  and  Conten- 
tion, and  above  tiiem  many  others  later  discovered.  The 
larger  mines  had  extensive  buildings,  of  wood,  and  in 
handsome  draughting  and  assay  rooms  within  were  reg- 
ularly educated  scientists,  ex-college  professors  and  the 
like,  in  charge.  Tiie  lesser  mines  put  up  in  the  begin- 
ning with  commoner  sheds  and  poorer  appliances  of 
every  kind.  About  them  all  lie  heaps  of  a  blackish 
material,  resembling  inferior  coal  and  slate,  the  silver 
ore  in  its  native  condition.  A  laborer  above-o^round 
earned  $3.50,  and  below-ground  $4,  for  a  "  shift "  of 
eight  hours,  and  the  work  went  on  night  and  day,  Sun- 
days and  all. 

I  leave  to  others  to  estimate  the  bulk  of  treasure  in  the 
place.  I  was  told  that  it  was  "  the  biggest  thing  since 
the  Comstock,"  and  there  were  forty  million  dollars  in 
sight.  I  was  offered,  daily,  fractional  interests  in  mines, 
now  by  a  young  surveyor  who  was  going  to  be  married 
and  needed  money  for  his  wedding  outfit ;  now  by  new 
friends  who  were  straitened  for  assessment  funds  to 
carry  out  the  provisions  of  the  law ;  and  again  by  others 
who  would  kindly  make  any  sacrifice  for  the  pleasure  of 
associating:  a  traveller  from  a  distance  with  the  interests  of 
the  place ;  and  yet  it  will  be  well  for  the  novice  to  be  wary 
of  these  seductive  openings  at  Tombstone,  as  elsewhere. 


TOMBSTONE.  489 

This  I  know,  however,  that  I  descended  four  hundred 
feet  or  so  into  the  Contention  Mine,  and  found  great 
cliambers  hollowed  out,  from  which  mineral  had  been 
taken,  showing  a  generous  width  in  tiie  vein.  The 
yield,  from  its  discovery  up  to  March,  1881,  had  been 
$2,000,000.  The  Tough  Nut,  with  the  Lucky  Cuss, 
Good  Enough,  Owl's  Nest,  and  Owl's  Last  Hoot  — 
the  racy  vernacular  of  their  names  will  be  observed — 
had  yielded  $1,000,000. 

The  outskirts  of  Tombstone  consisted  still  of  huts  and 
tents.  A  burly  miner  could  be  seen  stretched  upon  his 
cot  in  a  windowless  cabin,  barely  large  enough  to  contain 
him.  There  were  some  tents  provided  with  wooden  doors 
and  adobe  chinmeys.  New  as  it  was,  the  business  por- 
tion of  the  place  had  been  once  swept  out  of  existence 
by  a  devastating  fire,  which  originated  from  a  character- 
istic incident — the  explosion  of  a  whiskey-barrel  in  the 
Oriental  Saloon.  Within  fourteen  days  all  was  rebuilt 
far  better  than  before. 

I  took  the  pains  to  count  the  number  of  establishments 
in  a  single  short  block  of  Allen  Street  at  which  intox- 
icating liquors  were  sold.  There  were  the'  bar-rooms 
of  two  hotels,  the  Eagle  Brewery,  the  Cancan  Chop- 
house,  the  French  Rotisserie,  the  Alhambi'a,  Maison 
Dore,  City  of  Paris,  Brown's  Saloon,  Fashion  Saloon, 
Miners'  Home,  Kelly's  Wine  -  house,  the  Grotto,  the 
Tivoli,  and  two  saloons  apparently  unnamed.  At  these 
places  gambling  also  went  on  without  let  or  hinderance. 
The  absence  of  savings-banks  or  other  Ojtportunitj'  for 
depositing  mone}',  in  these  wild  communities,  and  the 
temptation  arising  from  having  it  always  under  the  eye, 
no  doubt  has  something  to  do  with  the  general  passion 
for  gambling.  Whiskey  and  cold  lead  are  named  as 
the    leading    diseases    at    Tombstone.     What    with    the 

21* 


490         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

leisure  that  seems  to  prevail,  the  constant  drinking  and 
gambling  at  the  saloons,  and  the  universal  practice  of 
carrying  deadly  weapons,  there  is  but  one  source  of 
astonishment,  and  that  is  that  the  cold -lead  disease 
should  claim  so  few  victims.  Casualties  are,  after  all, 
infrequent,  considering  the  amount  of  vaporish  talk  in- 
dulged in,  and  the  imminent  risks  that  are  run.  The 
small  cemetery,  over  toward  Contention  Hill,  so  far  from 
being  glutted  with  the  slaughtered,  is  still  comparatively 
virgin  ground. 

III. 

A  farther  element  in  addition  to  that  of  the  miners  is 
to  be  cited  as  having  a  good  deal  to  do  with  the  excep- 
tional liveliness  of  Tombstone — the  "  Cow-boys." 

The  term  cow-boy,  once  applied  to  all  those  in  the  cat- 
tle business  indiscriminately,  while  still  including  some 
honest  persons,  has  been  narrowed  down  to  be  chiefly 
a  term  of  reproach  for  a  class  of  stealers  of  cattle,  over 
the  Mexican  frontier,  and  elsewhere,  who  are  a  terror  in 
their  day  and  generation.  Exceptional  desperadoes  of 
this  class,  such  as  "Billy  the  Kid,"  "Curly  Bill,"  and 
"Russian  George,"  have  been  the  scourges  of  whole 
districts  in  Colorado,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona,  and 
have  had  their  memories  embalmed  in  yellow-covered 
literature. 

I  bought  on  the  train,  on  leaving,  a  pamphlet  purport- 
ing to  be  an  account  of  the  exploits  of  Bill}'  the  Kid. 
He  had  committed,  it  appeared,  at  least  a  score  of  horrid 
murders,  but  "  so  many  cities  have  claimed  the  honor  of 
giving  him  birth,"  said  my  pamphlet,  "that  it  is  difficult 
to  locate  with  any  accuracy  the  locality  where  he  passed 
his  j-outh."  It  was  finally  determined,  however,  in  favor 
of  New  York.     "  It  was  on  the  Bowery,"  said  the  author, 


1 


TOMBSTONE.  491 

wliose  ideas  of  morality  were  peculiar  even  for  a  sensa- 
tionalist, "that  his  mates  learned  to  love  hira  for  his  dar- 
ing and  prowess,  and  delighted  to  refer  to  him  as  Billy 
the  Kid." 

This  promising  life  was  cut  off  at  tlie  e'<\\-\y  age  of 
twenty-two.  "Curly  Bill,"  also  died  young,  and  so  did 
"  Man-killer  Johnson."  I  remarked  upon  this  peculiar- 
ity, of  their  youth,  to  a  philosopher  of  the  region  itself. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "they  donH  seem  to  live  to  be  very 
old  ;  that's  so." 

The  recipe  for  a  long  life  in  this  country  was  described 
as  being  very  quick  and  getting  "the  drop"  on  an  antag- 
onist ;  that  is  to  say,  being  ready  to  shoot  first.  Unless 
this  can  be  done,  it  is  the  custom  even  to  put  up  with 
some  ignominious  abuse  at  the  time,  and  await  a  more 
favorable  opportunity. 

The  cow-boys  frequenting  Tombstone  were  generally 
from  the  ranches  in  the  San  Pedro  and  San  Simon 
valleys.  There  were  said  to  be  strongholds  in  tlie  San 
Simon  Valley  where  they  concealed  stolen  cattle  until 
re-branded  and  sent  to  market,  and  wliCre  no  officer  of 
the  law  ever  dared  to  venture.  They  looked  upon  the 
running  off  of  stock  from  Mexico,  as  far  as  that  was 
concerned,  only  as  a  more  dashing  form  of  smuggling, 
though  it  was  marked  by  frequent  bloody  tragedies  on 
both  sides. 

Not  to  fix  upon  all  the  misdeeds  of  but  a  few,  no 
doubt  there  were  on  the  streets  of  Tombstone  plenty  of 
cow-boj's  of  a  legitimate  sort,  whose  only  faults  were 
occasional  boisterousness  and  too  free  lavishing  of  their 
money.  There  appeared  to  be  something  of  a  standing 
feud  between  the  miners  and  the  cow-boys,  and  there  was 
besides  a  faction  of  "  town  cow-boys "  organized  against 
the  "  country  cow-boys." 


492  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

The  leading  cattle-iuoii  had  a  Southern  cut  and  accent, 
and  hailed  originally  from  Missouri  or  Texas.  Some  ap- 
peared in  full  black  broadcloth,  accompanied  by  the  usual 
wide  sombrero.  The  landlord  of  our  hotel  described 
them  as  "perfect  gentlemen,"  some  of  them  good  at  the 
bar  for  as  higli  as  $20  or  $25  a<day. 

The  great  object  in  life  of  the  various  factions,  or  of 
individuals  who  arose  from  time  to  time  in  search  of 
notoriety,  was  to  "run  the  town."  This  consisted  large- 
ly in  tlie  privilege  of  blustering  in  the  saloons,  whooping 
and  firing  occasional  pistol-shots,  if  thought  good,  in  the 
streets,  and  having  a  moderate  security  from  arrest,  in- 
spired by  dread  of  their  prowess. 

This  was  necessarily  a  very  insecure  preeminence. 
New  aspirants  and  rebels  M'ere  continually  piqued  into 
appearing  against  it  whenever  it  seemed  fairly  attained. 
Our  visit  happened  upon  the  heels  of  a  conflict  making 
the  most  tragic  page  yet  written  in  the  aimals  of  Tomb- 
stone. Opinions  seemed  divided  about  it — even  official 
opinions.  The  sherifiE  extended  his  sympathy  to  one 
side,  the  city  marshal,  who  was,  in  fact,  its  leader,  to  the 
other. 

City  Marshal  Earp,  with  his  two  brothers,  and  one 
"  Doc  Holliday,"  a  gambler,  had  come  down  the  street, 
armed  with  rifles,  and  opened  fire  on  two  Clanton  broth- 
ers and  two  McLowry  brothers.  Tiie  latter  party  had 
been  practically  first  disarmed  by  the  sheriff,  who  feared 
such  a  meeting,  and  meant  to  disarm  the  others  as  well. 
Three  of  the  assailed  men  fell,  and  died.  "Ike"  Clan- 
ton  alone  escaped. 

The  slayers  were  imprisoned,  but  released  on  bail. 
The  Grand  Jury  was  now  in  session,  hearing  evidence 
in  the  case.  It  was  rumored  that  the  town  party — the 
Earps — would  command   a  sufficient   personal   influence 


TOMBSTONE.  493 

to  go  free  of  indictment.  Tlie  cow-boys  were  flocking 
into  town  to  await  the  result,  and  on  a  certain  quiet 
Sunday  wore  an  ominous  look.  It  was  said  that,  should 
justice  fail  to  be  done  them,  the  resolute-looking  men 
conferring  together  darkly  at  the  edges  of  the  sidewalk 
would  take  the  matter  into  their  own  hands.  The  jnr\', 
I  have  since  learned,  did  not  find  an  indictment,  and  the 
remaining  ])arties  to  the  affair,  with  many  others,  I  be- 
lieve, have  since  died  with  their  boots  on  in  the  same 
cause.  If  anything  could  reconcile  us  to  the  untimely 
taking-off  of  these  paladins,  it  would  be  partly  their  own 
contemptuous  indifference  to  it. 

It  would  seem  that  we  ought  to  have  at  least  half  a 
dozen  lives  apiece,  to  account  for  such  an  indifference, 
but  to  be  ready  to  toss  away  the  only  one  on  any  and 
everj^  pretext  or  no  pretext  is  not  at  all  so  intelligible. 
It  is  certainly  not  the  desperation  of  poverty  by  which 
it  is  occasioned.  Many  of  them  are  in  very  good  cir- 
cumstaiices.  The  younger  McLowry,  a  boy  under  twen- 
ty, had  $3000  in  his  pocket,  the  proceeds  of  a  sale  of 
cattle,  the  day  he  fell. 

The  elder  Clanton  had  played  cards  most  of  the  night 
before  with  two  of  his  deadly  enemies,  both  parties  keep- 
ing a  hand  on  their  pistols  meanwhile.  When  "Billj'" 
Clanton,  a  boy,  like  McLowry,  lay  prone  on  the  ground 
in  the  fight,  dying  of  his  mortal  wound,  he  still  managed 
to  get  out  a  pistol,  steadied  it  on  a  shattered  arm,  and 
fired  once  more  at  "  Doc  Ilolliday,"  saying, 

"  I'll  get  one  of  you,  any  way." 

"You  are  a  daisy  if  you  do,"  replied  Doc  Ilolliday, 
continuing  to  advance  as  coolly  as  if  at  target  practice, 
and  emptying  another  ban-el  of  his  own  into  him. 

And  the  last  words  of  Billy  Clanton,  in  the  Nibelungen- 
like  contest — which  I  am  quite  aware  will  not  be  quoted, 


494 


OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  rROVINCES. 


A   TOMBSTONE    SHERIFF   AND   CONSTITUENTS. 


in  school-readers,  with  tliose  of  Lawrence,  Nelson,  and 
Montcalm,  since  there  was  no  sense  at  all  in  this  fren- 
zied display  of  pluck  and  tenacity  —  were:  "For  God's 
sake  more  cartridges !" 

Meantime  the  whistles  of  the  mining  works  were  shriek- 
ing notes  of  alarm,  the  miners  pouring  forth  from  un- 
derground, and  the  reputable  citizens,  who  might  have 
exclaimed,  "A  jjlague  o'  both  your  houses!"  arming 
themselves  in  hot  haste,  and  coming  to  their  doors,  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  general  anarchy. 


TOiVBSTONE.  495 

There  is  a  grimly  humorous  element  in  it  alL  It 
seems  such  an  excellent  joke  to  idly  snuff  out  the  most 
precious  of  human  possessions.  A  cow-boy  shoots  a  tum- 
bler from  the  hand  of  another,  just  raised  to  his  lips,  sa}'- 
ing,  "  When  you  drink  with  me  I  will  teach  you  to  take 
whiskey  plain,  and  no  mixtures." 

A  group  of  others  sit  around  in  a  saloon  where  lies 
a  fresh -made  corpse.  An  officer  of  the  law  enters,  and 
says,  "  Who  claims  this  man?"  whereupon  all  jump  to 
their  feet  to  dispute  the  honor. 

There  is  a  large  supply  of  these  amusing  stories.  To 
kill  your  man  seems  a  way  of  winning  your  spurs,  as  it 
were,  and  establishing  yourself  on  a  proper  footing  in  the 
community.  Even  the  defunct,  in  various  cases,  could  he 
be  heard  from,  would  probably  find  no  great  fault  with 
the  manner  of  his  taking  off,  but  only  with  the  "luck" 
of  it  which  had  gone  against  him. 


496         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


XXXII. 

CAMP  LOWELL,  TUCSON,  AND  SAN  XAVIER  DEL  BAC. 


The  night  journey  returning  by  stage  to  Benson  was 
enlivened  by  more  shooting  stories.  I  heard,  among  oth- 
ers, of  the  doings  of  the  hite  Brazelton  of  Tucson,  and 
at  Tucson  I  bouglit  his  pliotograph,  taken,  after  death, 
in  his  mask  and  otiier  paraphernalia  of  his  craft.  He 
robbed  stages  for  years  while  apparently  working  quiet- 
ly as  a  hostler  in  a  corral.  He  was  finally  tracked  to  his 
fate  through  some  peculiar  marks  of  the  horse  he  rode. 

One  of  our  passengers  had  just  recovered  from  wounds 
received  in  a  fight  over  cards  with  a  Mexican,  whom  he 
had  killed,  and  was  now  able,  with  the  aid  of  morphine, 
to  pursue  his  journey  toward  his  home  in  New  Mexico, 
The  train  men  at  Benson  were  chary  of  carrying  their 
lanterns  about  the  depot  yard,  a  habit  having  arisen,  it 
seemed,  among  the  cow-boys  of  trying  to  snuff  out  these 
movino;  tarirets  with  revolvers  from  a  distance. 

There  seemed  a  certain  tameness  even  in  the  Apaches 
after  this  wild  product  of  the  higher  civilization  of  the 
whites.  The  principal  group  of  prisoners  taken  after  tho 
attempted  massacre  of  General  Carr's  command  was  found 
in  confinement  at  Camp  Lowell,  nine  miles  north  of  Tuc- 
son. There  were  forty-two  of  them,  with  Sanchez,  their 
chief.  They  were  of  fairly  regular  features,  and  their 
expression,  with  the  war-paint  washed  off,  not  unamiable. 


CAMP  LOWELL,   TUCSON,  ETC. 


497 


They  were  liaiidcuffed  together  in  coni)les,  their  legs  also 
manacled,  and  now  wore  gray  army  niider-shirts  and  cot- 
ton drawei's,  the  rags  in 
which  they  liad  come 
having  been  taken  from 
them.  Tiieir  long  black 
hair  hnng  al)ont  their 
ears,  not  frowzy,  like 
that  of  the  Yunias,  bnt 
smoothly  parted  in  the 
middle,  and  brushed 
back.  A  number  wore 
red  bands  or  kerchiefs 
around  their  heads. 


^ 


APAOIIK    PRl.^ONK.nS    AT    C.WI'    LOWELL. 


498  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

Seen  obscurelj  in  the  cliief  prison-room  by  side-light 
from  a  grated  window,  tliej  Iiad  a  certain  resemblance  to 
Greek  insurgents,  or  the  sans  culottes  of  1793,  or,  again, 
the  wild  Yendean  peasants  who  fought  with  Rochejaque- 
lein  and  Jean  Chouan  for  religion  and  the  king. 

They  were  taken  out  for  an  airing  in  the  mornings, 
and  allowed  to  squat  in  the  sun  at  the  edge  of  the  pleas- 
ant parade-ground,  flanked  by  its  well-shaded  row  of 
officers'  dwellings.  The  recent  rising  had  been  the  re- 
sult of  a  fanatical  delusion.  A  medicine-man  persuaded 
them  that  he  had  received  a  revelation  to  drive  all  the 
whites  from  the  land.  As  soon  as  the  corn  was  ripe,  he 
said,  their  dead  brethren  would  arise  and  take  arms  to  aid 
them  in  carrying  out  the  decree  of  Heaven.  He  had,  as 
many  prophets  have  not,  the  courage  of  his  convictions. 
Though  taken  in  charge  himself-  by  the  troops,  he  gave  a 
signal  agreed  upon  for  tiie  massacre  of  these  to  begin,  call- 
ing to  his  people  not  to  be  concerned  about  his  fate,  as 
he  would  come  to  life  and  join  them  again  in  three  days. 

The  bluff  Arizonians  are  apt  to  indulge  in  a  derisive 
way  of  talking  of  the  army  and  its  relation  to  the  savages. 
They  would  make  but  short  work  of  these  latter,  they  say, 
if  they  took  tlie  matter  into  their  own  hands.  Thej'  im- 
ply that  the  army  does  not  wish  to  kill  off,  or  even  wholly 
put  down,  the  Indians,  but  rather  to  preserve  them,  as  a 
gentle  stimulus  to  public  dread,  to  hasten  promotions, 
and  also  to  furnish  occasion  foi-  profitable  supplj' -con- 
tracts. However  this  may  be,  it  would  seem  that  after 
the  repression  of  this  revolt,  and  the  rapid  penetration  of 
railroads  into  the  Territory',  Indians  need  no  longer  be  a 
deterring  influence  of  great  moment  with  the  intending 
settler.  This  old  historic  source  of  apprehension  seems 
as  good  as  abolished  from  its  last  stronghold. 

Eight  miles  to  the  north  brings  us  to  a  ranch  called 


CAMP  LOWELL,   TUCjSOX,  ETC. 


4'J9 


AN    ARIZONA    WATKRING-PLACE. 


Fuller's  Hot  Springs.  This  is  one  of  the  few  places 
where  a  beginning  of  systematic  cultivation  has  been 
made,  and  interesting  besides  as  a  typical  Arizona  sum- 
mer resort.  There  was  a  .young  orchard  of  twenty-five 
acres,  sheltered  by  a  wind-break  of  three  rows  of  ash- 
trees,  doing  very  well  in  an  alkali  soil.  The  buildings 
consisted  of  a  number  of  unpainted  adobe  houses,  each 
of  a  single  large,  comfortable  room,  roofed  with  strips  of 
cactus. 


500  OLT)   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

There  was  a  "summer  dining-room"  made  of  ocotilla 
sticks,  the  intervals  open  ;  and  a  "  winter  dining-room," 
with  tight  walls,  and  a  fireplace,  in  which  a  wood -fire 
was  burned  mornings  and  evenings.  The  hot  spring,  a 
clear,  pleasant  water,  said  to  resemble  English  Harrogate, 
ran  out  fi'om  below  a  bath-honse,  consisting  of  a  patched 
canvas  tent.  It  became,  below,  a  pretty  brook,  a  pond  fur 
the  cattle,  and  source  of  supply  for  irrigating  the  orcliard. 
The  mountains  behind  tlie  place,  the  Santa  Catalinas,  ai'e 
like  the  Sierra  Madres  behind  Los  Angeles.  They  are  of 
the  same  sharp  fracture,  but  higher  and  grander,  jutting 
up  here  and  there  into  as  perfect  castles  as  those  of 
Harlech,  the  Trostberg,  or  Rheinstein.  Forests  of  pine  of 
large  dimensions  crown  a  part  of  their  summits.  South 
and  south-west,  across  the  wide  plain,  appear  the  Rincons 
and  silver-bearing  Santa  Ritas. 

There  was  a  fascination  in  being  able  to  examine  at 
leisure  the  strange  growths  of  the  plain,  and  not  merely 
to  know  them  in  glimpses  from  the  car- windows.  I 
made  haste  especially  to  cut  down  for  inspection  an  ex- 
ample of  the  enormous  saguara,  the  organ-cactus.  Taller 
than  that  on  the  hill-sides  of  Guerrero  along  the  Acapulco 
trail,  it  often  rises  to  a  height  of  sixty  feet,  bristles  over 
the  landscape  like  masts  or  columns,  or,  again,  like  the 
seven-branched  candlestick  of  the  Mosaic  law.  Inside  it 
consists  of  a  white,  juicy  pulp,  imbedding  a  bundle  of 
fibres  in  the  form  of  long  wands,  which,  when  dried, 
serve  a  number  of  useful  purposes.  It  has  a  palatable 
fruit,  which  the  Indians  collect  from  its  top  in  August 
with  forked  sticks. 

The  ocotilla  is  simply  a  shrub  growing  as  a  wattle  of 
sticks,  fifteen  or  twenty  together,  only  waiting  to  be  cut 
down  and  turned  into  palings.  The  bisnaga  is  a  thorny 
cactus  like  an  immense  watermelon  o-rowino:  on  end.    One 


CAMP  LOWELL,    T  CCS  OX,  ETC. 


501 


need  never  die  of  tliirst  wliere  it  is  found. 
The  cliolla  is  a  mass  of  spines,  which  are  even 
barbed,  on  the  fish-hook  principle.  It  is  consid- 
ered funny  to  hear  of  somebody's  falling  into  a 
cholJa,  and  nothing  could  better  represent  the 
ti-aditional  "  bramble-bush  "  in  which  the 
man  who  was  so  wondrous  wise  met  with 
the  famous  adventure  of  scratching  out 
his  eyes.  The  "deer-brush"  somewhat 
resembles  the  horns  of  the  animal.  Tiie 
palo  verde — green  stick — grows  as  large 
as  an  ajiple-tree,  with  the  texture  of  a 


CACTtS    OROWTIIS    OK    TIIK    DKSKUT. 


I 


502         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

mammotli  sea-weed.  The  "grease-wood"  is  a  large  bnsli, 
said  to  burn  just  as  well  when  green  as  dry.  Most  of 
this  vegetation  is  leafless,  or  rather  the  plant  seems  a 
leaf  itself,  since  coarse  bark  is  lacking,  and  the  green  of 
chlorophyll  and  the  tenderness  of  structure  seem  equally 
distributed  throughout. 

There  are  homely  legends  and  superstitions  about  these 
plants  of  the  desert.  A  certain  one,  for  instance,  poisons 
any  white  spot  on  a  horse,  but  not  one  of  any  other 
color.  Another,  eaten  by  horses,  njakes  them  lazy  and 
imbecile.  The  loco,  or  rattle-weed,  on  the  other  hand, 
drives  them  raving  crazy,  and  they  try  to  run  them- 
selves to  death.  I  do  not  know  whether  this  last  be 
wholly  a  superstition,  for  I  rode  in  California  a  horse 
whose  eccentric  proceedings  could  hardly  be  accounted 
for  on  any  other  basis. 

Tucson,  from  a  distance,  in  early  morning  or  late  after- 
noon, is  level,  low,  square,  and  brown,  with  a  mellow 
light  upon  it  and  the  castellated  mountains  behind  it. 
In  the  foreground  you  see  lazy  ox-wains,  a  prospector, 
perhaps,  with  his  pots  and  kettles,  and  a  mounted  Mexi- 
can towing  by  a  lariat  a  bull,  which  ducks  its  head  in 
vain  resistance.  From  a  distance  it  is  thoroughly  for- 
eign, and  of  attractive  promise.  There  is  something  of 
the  Dead  Sea  apple  in  the  realization  of  this  promise. 
If  Ruskin  be  ris-lit  in  holding  that  a  house  should  be  of 
the  general  color  of  the  soil  on  which  it  stands,  Tucson 
may  lay  claim  to  great  artistic  merit.  It  is  entirely  of 
adobe  brick  of  the  natural  mud -color.  Violent  rain- 
storms occur,  to  the  detriment  of  paint  and  kalsomine, 
on  such  a  friable  surface,  and  their  use  becomes  a  seri- 
ous question  of  economy. 

Tucson  has  great  antiquity  as  a  mere  corporate  ex- 
istence.    It  was  founded  by  one  of  the  early  Spanish  ex- 


CAMP  LOWELL,   TUCSOX,  ETC. 


503 


504:  OLD   MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

])editions  that  came  up  the  Santa  Cruz  Valley  in  quest 
of  the  reputed  treasure  of  the  Aztecs  in  the  fabled  "  land 
of  Cibola,"  but  retains  no  visible  trace  of  age.  If  there 
were  ever  any  monuments  of  importance,  they  have  effec- 
tually vanished.  Even  the  church  is  new.  Such  foreign- 
ness  as  there  is  consists  of  a  very  provincial  Mexican 
squalor. 

The  considerations  of  interest  about  it  are  of  a  purely 
utilitarian  character,  as:  how  it  is  to  be  paved,  drained, 
lighted,  provided  with  an  adequate  water  supply,  so  as 
not  to  have  to  pay  four  cents  a  bucket  for  it,  as  at  pres- 
ent; and  how  it  is  to  get  rid  of  its  malarial  fevers  and 
shabby  rookeries. 

A  writer  in  one  of  the  papers  one  day  paid  a  glowing 
eulogy  to  its  peculiar  situation,  in  the  desert.  lie  held 
that  this  was  a  matter  not  only  of  those  material  prod- 
ucts which  I  have  mentioned,  but  also  of  the  highest 
moral  and  intellectual  advantages.  It  was  apropos  of  the 
establishment  of  a  public  library.  jSTo  great  idea  has  ever 
been  evolved  in  the  usual  scenes  of  human  habitation  (so 
the  argument  ran),  and  that  there  is  no  place  for  study 
and  contemplation  like  the  desert.  Christ,  Mahomet,  Zo- 
roaster, and  Confucius  all  formulated  their  creeds  in  the 
desert.  I  gathered  that  we  are  to  expect  from  Arizona, 
at  the  proper  time,  some  new  prophet  or  sage,  to  sway 
again  the  destinies  of  men  in  the  same  way. 

The  correspondent  was  satisfied,  at  any  rate,  that,  with 
a  public  library,  Tucson  could  shortly  become  another 
Alexandria  of  the  desert,  "a  seat  of  learning  and  foun- 
tain-head of  ideas,  to  be  sought  by  students  from  Mexico, 
from  the  Pacific  Islands,  from  China  and  Japan,  and  the 
mountains  and  valleys  of  the  Rio  Grande,"  and  I  for  one 
shall  be  very  glad  to  see  it  so. 

It  is  the  commercial  centre  of  the  important  Southern 


CAMP  LOWELL,  TUCISON,  ETC. 


5o: 


KXTKIilOR    OF    MISSION    CIHIRCIl    OF    SAN    XAVIKR    DKL    BAC. 


506  OLD   MEXICO  AKI)  HER  LOST  PliOVmCES. 

mining  district,  and  has  an  eligible  situation  for  future 
development.  It  has  derived  in  its  time  considerable 
profit  from  furnishing  supplies  to  the  army,  and  from  a 
smuggling  trade  with  Mexico.  The  goods  for  this  latter 
were  taken  out  in  teams,  then  "  packed  "  over  the  moun- 
tain passes,  on  donkeys,  to  the  objective  points  of  Altar 
and  Magdalena,  in  cactus-grown,  arid  Sonora. 

The  traders  at  Tucson,  again,  are  largely  Jewish.  A 
certain  kind  of  "life"  prevails  freely,  as  at  Tombstone. 
Roulette,  faro,  and  other  games  of  chance  are  played  in  a 
large  way  in  the  leading  saloons,  while  the  poor  Mexicans 
gamble  for  small  stakes  at  foiidas  of  their  own,  where 
some  wretched  lithograph  of  Hidalgo  or  Zaragoza  looks 
down  on  them  from  the  walls.  There  is  lacking,  how- 
ever, the  choleric  and  dangerous  air  of  Tombstone. 
People  make  waj  for  you  to  pass  if  you  wish,  and  do 
not  seem  exclusively  occupied  with  looking  about  for 
somebody  to  tread  on  the  tails  of  their  coats. 

If  Tucson  be  without  historic  reniains  of  its  own,  it 
has  one  of  the  loveliest  possible  in  its  vicinity,  the  old 
mission  church  of  San  Xavier  del  Bac. 

San  Xavier  is  on  the  reservation  of  the  Christianized 
Papago  Indians,  in  the  Santa  Cruz  Valley,  ten  miles  to 
the  southward.  It  is  a  new  sensation  even  for  one  froni 
Mexico  who  may  have  flattered  himself  that  he  knew  the 
style  completely.  This  ancient  landmark  of  a  frontier 
civilization  which,  since  its  destruction,  has  not  been  even 
faintly  approached  in  its  kind,  is  not  surpassed  either  in 
Mexico  or  out  of  it  fur  the  quaintness,  the  qualities  of 
form  and  color,  and  the  gentle  sentiment  of  melancholy 
that  appeal  to  the  artistic  sense.  Old  Father  Time  has 
trodden  with  heavy  step  on  green  wooden  balconies  in 
its  front,  broken  out  their  floors,  and  left  parts  of  them 
dangling   free.     The   original    sweet-toned  bronze   bells 


1 


CAMF  LOWELL,  TUCSON,  ETC. 


507 


I.M'ICIUOU   Ul-    CUlKtll    OK   SAN    XAVltK    DKL    BAC. 


508         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROriNCES. 

still  hang  in  one  of  the  towers.  The  space,  terminating 
in  a  scrolled  gable,  between  the  towers  is  enriched  with 
escutcheons  and  rampant  lions,  wreathed  in  foliage. 
Niches  hold  grotesque  broken  statnes,  and  complicated 
pilasters  flank  the  entrance  doorwaj^,  the  whole  formed 
in  stucco  upon  a  basis  of  moulded  bricks.  Where  a  por- 
tion has  fallen  away  it  can  be  seen  that  the  pilasters  are 
constructed  upon  or  held  together  by  a  centre  consisting 
of  a  stick  of  timber. 

The  designer,  whoever  he  may  have  been,  was  inspired 
by  Venetian -Byzantine  traditions.  It  is  roofed  with 
numerous  simple  domes  and  half-domes.  The  interior 
of  these,  frescoed  with  angels  and  evangelists,  the  chan- 
cel walls,  almost  covered  with  gilding,  but  stained  and 
battered,  and  the  painted  and  gilded  lions  on  the  chancel 
rails,  recall  to  the  least  observant  Saint  Mark's  at  Venice. 
The  style  is  not  quite  consistently  carried  out,  however. 
A  later  rococo  decoration,  as  exuberant  as  the  vagaries  of 
East  Indian  work,  mingles  with  and  at  places  overrides 
it.  A  Henri  II.  candlestick  will  give  a  certain  idea  of 
the  pattern  of  the  columns. 

The  date  has  disappeared  from  the  faQade,  but  it  is  be- 
lieved to  be  abgut  1768,  and  the  present  edifice  was  built 
on  the  ruins  of  a  former  one,  going  back  much  nearer  to 
165-1,  when  the  mission  to  the  Papagos  was  first  begun. 
Large  angels,  with  bannerets,  their  draperies  formed  of 
papier-mache  or  gummed  muslin,  are  attached  to  the 
main  chancel  piers ;  and  a  painted  and  gilded  Virgin, 
with  a  long  face,  and  hair  brushed  up  from  a  high  fore- 
head, as  in  the  sculptures  of  Jean  Goujon,  looks  down 
from  a  high  altar  niche. 

All  within  is  of  a  mediaeval  richness  and  obscurity'. 
All  without  is  broad  sunshine  falling  upon  the  peaceful 
Papago  village.     A  few  old  men  trudge  about,  concern- 


CAMP  LOWELL,  TUVSON,  ETC.  509 

jiig  themselves  with  their  bake-ovens  and  some  water- 
jars  and  strings  of  dried  squashes,  and  women  pass  by 
with  tall  loads  of  hay  and  other  produce  carried  in  the 
kijo,  a  singular  hamper  of  sticks  and  netting,  on  their 
•  backs.  Nobody  concerns  himself  about  visitors,  except 
a  foolishly  smiling  boy,  one  Domingo,  who  has  brought 
us  the  key. 

To  have  come  from  that  spasm  of  aggressive  modern- 
ism, Tombstone,  and  to  be  at  ancient  San  Xavier  del  Bac 
—it  seemed  to  me  that  contrast  could  little  farther  go. 


510  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 


XXXIII. 

MEXIC  0    RE  VISITED. 
I. 

It  is  now  six  years  since  I  first  set  foot  in  Mexico. 
What  lias  liappened  in  the  mean  time?  How  have  the 
many  new  enterprises  of  that  day  of  stirring  activity  re- 
sulted ?  How  have  the  sanguine  expectations  then  enter- 
tained been  justified  by  the  facts?  Sighting,  as  it  were, 
through  two  points  of  view  so  remote  from  each  other, 
perhaps  something  like  mature  conclusions  may  be  ar- 
rived at.  Tiie  cliief  field  of  inquiry  remains — the  rail- 
roads. The  great  Mexican  Central  hns  been  completed 
throughout  its  entire  length  of  122'A  miles.  It  was  built 
at  the  rate  of  more  than  a  mile  a  day.  Thus,  in  seven 
days  from  New  York,  at  a  cost  of  $125,  or  in  two  da^^s 
and  thirteen  hours  from  the  frontier,  at  a  cost  of  $52,  you 
now  are  at  the  Capital. 

You  cross  the  Rio  Grande  from  El  Paso  by  an  Ameri- 
can trestle  bridge  to  Paso  del  Norte.  The  custom  ex- 
aminations at  both  tiiese  places,  as  indeed  at  all  points 
along  the  frontier,  are  a  great  improvement  on  those  at 
New  York.  The  one  daily  train  starts  late  in  the  after- 
noon. The  first  morning  you  reach  Chihuahua,  the  sec- 
ond Calcra,  and  the  third  Mexico.  A  contemporary  who 
does  me  the  honor  to  copy  my  early  map — together  with 
numerous  illustrations — overlooks  the  trifling  fact  that  a 
lonir  section  of  the  road — some  five  hundred  and  sixtv 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  511 

miles — has  left  the  route  throno^h  Parral  and  Dnrango  and 
taken  that  through  Jimenez,  Lerdo,  and  Fresnillo.  The 
reason  of  the  change  was  the  greater  difficulty  and  ex- 
pense of  the  original  line.  You  get  oS  at  the  crooked  old 
town  of  Zacatecas  or  Guanajuato  to  inspect  mines,  at  Aguas 
Calientes  for  its  baths,  and,  if  in  the  spring,  its  unique 
fair.  At  Lagos  you  make  the  diligence  connection  for 
Guadalajara.  The  interoceanic  division  of  the  railroad 
will  reach  this  line  city — little  touched  as  yet  by  modern 
influences,  and  having  a  central  plaza  as  picturesque  as  a 
scene  from  grand  opera — by  April,  '88.  Of  the  arm  of 
this  division,  traversing  San  Luis  Potosi,  there  are  also 
completed  one  hundred  and  six  miles,  from  the  port  of 
Tampico  westward. 

The  Mexican  National  Railway  has  built  four  hundred 
and  ninety -seven  miles  of  its  main  line,  leaving  but  a 
moderate  gap  between  its  two  sections,  which  those  with 
a  little  taste  for  adventure  can  easily  cross  by  stage  coach. 
It  has  also  built  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles  on  its 
branches.  The  charter  of  the  Mexican  Southern — General 
Grant's  road — has  been  suffered  to  lapse.  The  Morelos 
road  has  gone  on  some  miles  beyond  Cuautla,  to  Yautcpec, 
and  a  northern  division  to  the  neighborhood  of  Irolo. 
From  Irolo  a  railway  is  now  open  to  Pachuca,  and  the  day 
of  the  joint-dislocating  diligencia  thither  is  past.  Presi- 
dent Diaz,  in  his  latest  annual  message,  announces  that 
the  Internatioruil,  from  Piedras  Negras,  will  reach  Lei«do 
before  the  end  of  the  year.  Valuable  coal  mines  have 
been  opened,  along  the  Sabinas  River,  on  this  line.  The 
discovery  is  one  of  the  first  magnitude  for  Mexico,  in 
which,  up  to  this  time,  the  dearth  of  coal  has  been  com- 
plete. The  Tehuantepec  ship-railway  project,  set  back  by 
the  recent  death  of  Captain  Eads,  will  perhaps  not  easily 
find  another  so  enthusiastic  a  promoter.     The  remaining 


512  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

enterprises  remain  about  in  statu  quo.  There  are  now 
towards  four  thousand  miles  of  railway  in  the  Republic. 

It  has  to  be  confessed  that  the  American  railways  in 
Mexico  have  not  yet  proved  so  profitable  an  investment 
as  was  expected  ;  indeed,  for  many  they  must  have  been 
very  unfortunate.  The  government,  owing  to  its  financial 
straits,  suspended  the  subsidies  to  them  in  1884,  and  fund- 
ed the  amounts  tlien  due  in  a  long  term  bond,  as  a  part  of 
the  floating  national  debt.  Ilowever,  tlie  securities  l)ave 
of  late  appreciated  in  value,  the  subsidies  have  been  re- 
sumed, and  matters  are  looking  much  better.  The  Central 
bore  up  against  its  reverses,  but  the  National  succumbed 
and  became  bankrupt.  It  has  lately  been  reorganized  in 
the  usual  way,  and  upon  this  hard-pan  basis  its  prospects 
should  be  far  more  favorable.  The  earning  capacity  of 
all  the  roads  is  held  in  abeyance,  as  yet,  by  ruinous  local 
conditions,  which  tend  to  throttle  commerce  and  trade 
generally. 

The  effect  of  the  railways  on  the  country  itself  has  been 
chiefly  in  the  way  of  adding  stability  to  the  government. 
As  a  pacifying  influence  they  have  justified  all  that  was 
claimed  for  them.  Had  they  no  other  result  than  this, 
Mexico  must  esteem  them  worth  far  more  than  they  have 
cost.  A  feverish  appearance  of  'prosperity  was  created  at 
the  time  of  the  completion  of  the  principal  line  by  a  large 
temporary  increase  of  trade  with  our  own  country.  The 
total  value  of  our  exports  to  Mexico  grew  from  about 
$11,000,000  in  '81  to  more  than  816,500,000  in  '83.  It 
fell  off  again,  however,  in  '84  to  less  than  $13,000,000. 
The  difference  was  largely  due  to  the  importation  of  rail- 
way and  other  materials  for  the  works  of  improvement 
themselves.  Moreover,  the  increase  at  the  railway  points 
on  the  frontier  was  accompanied  by  a  corresponding  fall- 
ing off  at  Yera  Cruz.     This  port,  under  the  new  competi- 


MEXICO   REVISITED.  513 

tion,  has  lost  both  trade  and  population,  and  many  of  its 
leading  firms  have  ti*ansferred  their  business  establish- 
ments to  Paso  del  Norte.  Nevertheless,  a  normal  im- 
provement in  trade,  tangible  if  slow,  is  to  be  recorded. 
There  are  also  notable  instances  of  the  development  of 
local  industries.  To  take  the  single  instance  of  the  crop 
called  ixtle — a  species  of  fibre — the  Mexican  National 
transported  224,788  pounds  of  it,  grown  along  its  line,  in 
'82,  and  3,531,000  in  but  seven  months  of  'si.  There  is 
now  said  to  be  a  total  of  $125,000,000  of  American  capi- 
tal invested  in  Mexico. 

The  proposed  commercial  treaty  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  has  unhappily  failed,  defeated  in  our 
own  Congress  on  what  would  seem  niost  unstatesmanlike 
and  fatuous  grounds.  The  serious  decline  in  silver  has 
been  also  a  very  depressing  influence.  It  has  created  such 
uneasiness  in  the  mining  interests  that  efforts  are  being 
made  to  have  all  burdens  upon  silver  removed.  In  the 
matter  of  a  paper  currency  I  may  say  that  the  banks  of 
issue  early  came  to  grief,  and  almost  in  the  precise  form 
outlined  in  my  chapter.  One  of  them,  that  deserving  be- 
nevolent institution  the  Monte  de  Piedad,  under  very  bad 
management,  failed,  and  now  goes  on  only  with  a  greatly 
impaired  capital.  The  visitor  is  not  driven  back  to  the 
use  of  the  bulky  silver,  however.  There  are  still  two 
banks,  of  the  bills  of  which  he  may  avail  himself;  the 
Banco  Nacional,  with  its  branches,  and  that  of  London, 
Mexico,  and  South  America.  The  commoner  people  were 
shy  of  this  paper  at  first,  but  have  now  become  quite 
generally  used  to  it. 

11. 

What  a  fi;scinating  variety  of  excursions  is  now  open 
to  the  traveller,  and  with  the  greatest  ease !  I  declare  I 


514  OLD   MEXICO   AM)  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

envy  him  with  a  sort  of  retrospective  jealousy  in  looking 
on  at  his  happier  lot.  Without  taking  into  account  the 
through  line  at  all,  but  only  going  by  sea  as  formerly,  you 
can  contrive,  by  a  few  simple  connections,  to  cover  in  a 
brief  time  and  at  a  small  expense  what  would  once  have 
meant  a  costly  journey  of  months.  Leaving  the  city  of 
Mexico  by  the  National — fancy  passing  by  railway  little 
Rio  Hondo  and  San  Bartolito  and  San  Francisquito,  to 
which  we  so  painfully  wended  with  our  guards  and  our 
mule-loads  of  silver,  telling  robber  stories  by  the  way! — 
leaving  by  the  National  you  reach  Tolnca,  Acambaro, 
Morelia,  and  Patzcuaro,  in  fertile,  smiling  Michoacan.  At 
Patzcuaro  you  take  a  turn  on  the  lovely  lake  in  a  new 
American  steamboat.  Heturn  to  Acambaro,  turn  north  to 
Celaya,  connect  there  with  the  Mexican  Central,  and  re- 
turn to  town  through  Queretaro,  San  Juan  del  Rio,  Tula, 
with  its  Toltec  ruins,  and  Iluehuetoca,  with  the  great  drain- 
ase  cut  of  Nochistonsra.  Take  the  short  excursions  around 
the  Capital,  the  longer  ones  to  Amecameca,  and  down  into 
Tierra  Caliente  at  Cuautla,  and  again  to  charming  Cuer- 
navaca  by  diligeticia,  for  an  example  of  that  kind  of  trav- 
elling. With  all  this,  and  the  usual  sights  to  be  seen 
along  the  line  from  Vera  Cruz,  you  have  had  variety  of 
climates,  races,  costumes ;  you  have  had  agriculture,  mines, 
aboriginal  antiquities,  volcanoes,  Spanish  architecture,  ev- 
erything, in  short,  most  interesting  and  characteristic  in 
Mexico. 

In  the  same  way  there  are  the  jaunts  to  be  made  down- 
ward from  our  southern  frontier.  How  easily  may  a 
tourist  on  the  Southern  Pacific  road  run  down  to  Guay- 
mas,  or  a  day  or  two  on  the  National,  from  Laredo,  or  on 
the  Central,  from  El  Paso,  or  joining  the  two  latter,  by 
stage-coach  from  Saltillo,  with  its  bold  and  lovely  scenery 
and  historic  associations  of  the  Mexican  War,  make  the 


MEXICO  REVHSIT&B.  515 

circuit  complete.  Whosoever  can  do  no  more  than  this 
will  bring  away  an  endiii-iiii!:  source  of  pleasant  memories 
fur  himself,  and  will  henceforth  form  a  part  of  that  intel- 
ligent and  appreciative  body  of  public  sentiment  which 
must  counteract  the  influence  of  a  rough  and  turbulent 
class  always  fomenting  idle  troubles,  like  that  of  the 
Cutting  case,  on  the  borders. 

Mexico  has  become,  meanwhile,  a  much  safer  country 
to  travel  in.  David  A.  Wells,  in  his  excellent  "Study  of 
Mexico,"  says,  that  prior  to  1883  its  "exploration  was  so 
difficult  and  dangerous  that  exploration  has  rarely  been 
attempted,  and  those  who  have  attempted  it  have  greatly 
imperilled  their  lives,  to  say  nothing  of  their  health  and 
property."  I  do  not  admit  that  it  M'as  quite  so  bad  as 
that,  judging,  perhaps,  from  a  peculiarly  fortunate  expe- 
rience of  my  own,  even  in  making  so  unusual  a  journey 
as  that  down  to  the  Pacific  coast  at  Acapulco.  However, 
at  the  present  time  no  military  guards  are  employed  on 
the  line  of  the  Mexican  Central,  and  even  those  on  the 
Vera  Cruz  road  are  spoken  of  as  only  "an  antiquated  sur- 
vival." 

Mexico  is  also  a  much  easier  country  to  travel  in,  in 
many  ways.  You  are  now  met  on  your  arrival  at  the 
Capital  by  express  agents,  who  will  see  your  baggage 
through  the  Custom  House,  and  deliver  it  in  any  part  of 
the  city,  and  there  are  express  offices  of  Wells,  Fargo  cV: 
Co.  throughout  the  Eepublic.  A  new  American  hotel 
has  been  built  around  two  sides  of  the  old  convent  garden 
of  San  Francisco.  It  is  not  yet  the  gorgeous  structure  of 
the  early  visionaries,  but  travellers  of  such  distinction  as 
Patti,  for  instance,  stop  there,  and  at  the  worst  it  could 
not  but  be  an  improvement  on  the  old  ones. 

Inland  postage,  once  almost  ])rohibitory,  has  been  re- 
duced to  a  uniform  rate  of  ten  cents  per  quarter  of  an 


51G  OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

ounce,  and  the  carrier  system  for  delivering  letters  has  been 
introduced.  Electric  lights  and  telephones  are  now  much 
in  use.  Tall  poles  with  great  lights  upon  them  dominate 
the  Central  Plaza  and  other  points,  as  in  Union  Square, 
New  York.  The  trumpery  that  obscured  the  view  of 
that  most  taking  of  subjects  for  a  water-color  sketch,  the 
Sagrario,  has  been  cleared  avvaj.  A  little  garden  has  been 
established  on  the  principal  street,  on  the  south  side  of  the 
church  of  the  Profesa,  well  known  to  all  who  have  fre- 
quented the  popular  restaurant  of  the  Concordia.  These 
details  show  that  the  municipality  is  very  favorably  dis- 
posed towards  the  march  of  progress.  An  appropriation 
of  $800,000  has  put  the  palace  of  Chapultepec  in  habit- 
able shape  to  be  hereafter  the  official  residence,  or  "  the 
White  House,"  of  the  presidents  of  Mexico.  The  Gauti- 
mozin,  of  the  proposed  line  of  statues  along  the  Calzada 
de  la  Reforma,  leading  to  it,  has  been  completed  and  set 
up,  and  the  Juarez  is  well  under  way.  A  contract  made 
some  few  years  since  with  one  Oscar  A.  Drorge,  to  plant 
two  million  of  trees  in  the  valley  of  Mexico,  has  not  yet 
produced  any  noticeable  results.  They  were  to  be  prin- 
cipally eucalyptus,  acacia,  ash,  willow,  and  poplar,  and  to 
cost  $200,000  in  all.  In  the  mean  time  it  has  been  dis- 
covered that  the  valley  never  was  wooded,  and  that  con- 
sequently the  early  Spaniards  could  not  have  been  guilty 
of  the  vandalism  of  destroying  the  once  magnificent  for- 
ests, as  often  laid  to  their  charge.  The  site  must  always 
have  been  essentially  marshy,  and  the  great  ancient  trees, 
the  ahuehaetes,  on  its  borders  at  Chapultepec,  are  shown 
to  be  a  species  of  swamp  cypress. 

The  Jockey  Club,  with  a  membership  chiefly  made  up 
from  the  old  and  wealthy  families,  is  one  of  the  later  feat- 
ures of  life  at  the  Capital.  Its  rooms  occupy  two  floors  of 
a  house  immediately  opposite  the  Iturbide  Hotel.     In  its 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  517 

brief  career  it  has  been  signalized  by  some  fashionable 
duels  and  other  episodes,  one  or  two  of  which  have  gained 
an  international  prominence.  As  a  social  club  it  is  pros- 
perous, and  the  first  in  the  city,  but  owing  to  lack  of  en- 
terprise in  entering  new  horses,  its  races  have  declined  in 
interest.  They  are  not  now  well  attended,  and  the  last 
spring  meeting  was  a  failure.  Another,  and  very  regret- 
table form  of  entertainment,  has  sprung  up,  in  the  revival 
of  bull-fighting  in  the  Federal  District.  The  prohibitory 
law  in  force  since  1867  was  repealed  last  winter,  and  two 
bull -rings  have  been  set  up,  one  at  San  Rafael,  not  far 
from  the  station  of  the  Mexican  National,  and  the  other 
in  the  Plaza  del  Mercado.  Fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  gross 
receipts  goes  to  the  municipality.  It  is  pleasant  to  be 
able  to  report,  however,  that  whereas  both  were  well  pat- 
ronized every  Sunday  at  first,  they  already  show  grave 
symptoms  of  decline ;  they  have  pooled  their  interests,  and 
are  now  open  only  on  alternate  Sundays.  I  cannot  but 
recall  here  that  old  book,  "Stephens'  Travels  in  Central 
America" — surely  one  of  the  most  fascinating  of  works, 
full  of  manliness,  good-humor,  and  good-sense.  The  au- 
thor tells  us  that  even  Gautemala  had  abolished  the  worst 
features  of  this  sport  as  far  back  as  his  time,  in  1839.  It 
is  true,  nevertheless,  that  in  Spain  it  has  of  late  years 
come  into  greater  favor  than  ever  before. 


III. 

It  cannot  be  said  that  the  great  drainage  problem  has 
advanced  much  nearer  solution.  An  American  company 
undertook  it  in  1882,  but  forfeited  its  charter  through  in- 
ability to  file  the  requisite  bond.  Next  the  Federal  and 
Municipal  governments  took  hold  of  it  in  partnership. 
They  tired  of  it,  and  again  offer  it  to  competition.     The 


518         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

plan  according  to  which  work  is  at  present  being  pursued 
is  that  of  reopening  an  old  tunnel,  commenced  in  the 
last  century,  leading  through  the  mountains  north-west 
of  the  city.  The  Cut  of  Nociiistongo  has  been  abandoned. 
Critics  write  to  the  newspapers  that  this  plan,  too,  is  im- 
practicable ;  indeed,  the  general  criticism  is  made  that  all 
plans  alike  are  impracticable,  and  that  drainage  will  dry 
up  the  ground  and  cause  the  buildings  to  tumble  down. 
Taking  it  in  all  its  aspects,  after  these  three  hundred  years 
of  effort,  it  is  as  difficult  a  question  as  a  community  is 
often  called  upon  to  face.  Mexico  is  unlucky  in  having 
several  such  that  are  almost  too  much  for  it. 

I  have  to  recall,  smiling,  too,  some  of  my  early  experi- 
ences in  getting  information  about  this  drainage  matter. 
I  suppose  I  was  rather  an  uneasy  companion  in  those 
days.  I  was  in  constant  quest  of  knowledge,  and  the 
acquisition  of  it  was  too  often  met  by  indifference,  post- 
ponement, careless  error,  or  even  refusal.  My  influential 
friend,  Don  Francisco  Garay,  alone  sustained  me. 

"That  is  right,"  he  would  say.  "When  I  was  studying 
my  engineering  in  Paris,  I,  too,  made  them  tell  me.  I 
would  not  let  them  off  till  my  questions  were  answered." 

Alas ! — with  a  feeling  like  that,  after  the  dinner-party, 
which  prompts  what  is  called  esprit  d'escalier — how  many 
more  questions  the  returned  traveller  would  like  to  have 
asked  !  I  remember  that  I  met,  at  the  house  of  a  Mexican 
gentleman  of  wealth,  an  engineer  of  the  city.  Upon  learn- 
ing my  desire  he  professed  that  he  would  have  great  pleas- 
ure in  putting  whatever  he  knew  of  the  history  of  the 
drainage  question  at  my  disposal.  I  called  upon  him.  He 
w^as  absent,  but  his  wife  made  an  appointment  for  him  a 
few  days  ahead.  When  I  called  to  keep  it  he  was  again 
absent,  but  this  time  the  wife — who  was  perhaps  of  French 
origin  ;  at  least  she  preferred  to  converse  in  French — said, 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  519 

M'itli  a  shrewd  air,  "My  liusbaiid  would  like  very  innch  to 
tell  you  about  the  drainage"  (and  she  implied  tluit  his 
knowledge  of  the  history  of  it  was  iininense),  "  if  you 
would  pay  him  well  for  it.  Why  do  you  not  form  a 
company?"  she  hastened  to  add,  vivaciously ;  "he  would 
be  very  glad  to  be  employed  as  your  engineer." 

Needless  to  say  that  I  applied  elsewhere.  Fancy  a  New 
Yorker  of  education  and  standing  asking  a  foreigner  whom 
lie  had  met  socially  to  pay  for  giving  him  a  few  points 
for  publication  abroad,  about,  say  the  Erie  Canal  or  the 
Croton  Aqueduct ! 

In  similar  fashion  a  literary  man  of  prominence,  one 
who  had  been  a  chief-justice,  told  me  that  he  could  not 
converse  with  me  about  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
present  literature  of  his  country,  but  preferred  to  put  it 
in  writing;  and  then,  after  many  annoying  delays  and 
broken  appointments,  that  he  could  not  write  it  because 
he  could  not  well  give  hhnself  the  place  that  rightfully 
belonged  to  him  ;  he  should  have  to  sacrifice  his  position 
to  others.  I  do  not  cite  these  as  instances  of  the  manners 
of  all  the  Mexicans— the  old  Castilian  courtesy  still  lingers 
— but  they  only  show  that  a  boorish  provincialism  may 
still  be  found  in  very  unexpected  quarters. 

The  National  Museum  is  rearranged,  and  its  collections 
liave  been  rendered  much  more  accessible.  It  now  con- 
tains the  well-known  "Calendar  Stone"  —  at  present  al- 
leged to  be  no  calendar  stone  at  all,  but  a  sort  of  gladia- 
torial rostrum — which  has  been  removed  from  the  corner 
of  the  Cathedral.  Antiquarian  science,  in  the  mean  time, 
has  been  very  active.  The  tone  of  the  later  erudition  is 
to  disturb  nu\ny  fond  illusions  to  which  we  have  long 
been  wedded.  It  is  particularly  severe  with  Prescott. 
One  writer,  whom  I  am  sure  I  can  never  find  it  in  my 
heart  to  forgive,  however  strongly  he  may  back  up  his 


520         OLD  MEXICO  AND   HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

case,  speaks  of  "  the  fascinating  narrations  of  Prescott,  to- 
gether with  the  worthy  Spanish  chroniclers  upon  whom 
Prescott  is  based,  as  "  not  mucli  more  worthy  of  respect 
and  credence  than  the  equally  fascinating  stories  of  Sind- 
bad  the  Sailor."  Bandelier  reduces  Mexico  to  a  pueblo 
like  those  of  the  Zuui's,  and  the  life-and-death  struggle  of 
Cortez  with  the  myriads  at  Otumba  from  a  battle  like  that 
of  Alexander  at  Arbela  or  the  Granicus  to  a  petty  Indian 
ambush.  They  hold  that  Cortez  magnified  his  exploits 
to  obtain  favor  at  court  and  escape  punishment  for  his 
disobedience.  Against  this  may  be  urged  that  the  nu- 
merous enemies  of  Cortez  could  easily  have  exposed  such 
pretensions,  and  had  every  motive  for  doing  so.  The  dis- 
crepancy between  his  claims  and  the  actual  facts  as  now 
allowed  was  so  prodigious  that  it  conld  not  possibly  have 
escaped  detection.  And  again,  whoever  has  trodden  above 
the  ruins  of  San  Juan  Teotihuacan — to  take  but  a  single 
instance — though  he  be  impressed  ever  so  much  with  the 
arguments,  showing  the  absurdity  of  all  the  alleged  kings 
and  princes  with  their  quotas  of  subjects,  can  hardly  deny 
that  this  place  has  at  some  time  held  a  great  popula- 
tion. The  ruins  are  pulverized  in  the  dust  now,  but 
Charnay,  an  explorer  of  wide  experience,  considers  them 
the  most  impressive  he  ever  saw.  His  measurement 
makes  their  extent  five  or  six  miles  in  diameter,  with 
holding  capacity  for  half  a  million  people.  I  find  in 
Mr.  Bandelier's  accounts  of  his  difficulties  in  penetrating 
the  reserve  of  the  native  Indian  race  a  certain  familiar 
ring.  He  is  a  conscientious  and  painstaking  man,  and 
went  to  live  among  them  at  Cholula,  where  I  had  such 
trouble  in  buying  some  of  their  costumes.  He  lived  also 
in  another  village,  where  he  had  obtained  permission  to 
copy  some  of  their  records  and  picture-writings,  but  the 
Indians  showed  themselves  morose  and  unapproachable 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  521 

during  all  of  his  sta}',  and  he  was  finally  dismissed  with 
profound  regrets  that  things  should  not  have  been  so  he 
could  have  had  access  to  the  documents  of  which  he  was 
in  quest.  They  thought  something  of  the  value  of  their 
lands  would  be  taken  away  if  the  titles  were  copied. 

M.  Desire  Charnay,  sent  out  by  the  French  Society  of 
Americanists  and  Mr.  Lorillard,  of  New  York,  was  of  a 
far  less  skeptical  turn,  as  we  have  seen,  but  it  may  be 
that  the  sort  of  spirit  that  prompts  a  man  to  this  kind 
of  adventure  does  not  often  coincide  with  the  judicial 
habit  best  adapted  for  weighing  the  results.  The  two  lead- 
ing Mexican  antiquarians,  Chavero  and  Orozco  y  Berra, 
would  not  go  out  to  Teotihuacan  to  see  his  discoveries, 
he  tells  us.  "  The  greater  part  of  the  modern  Mexican 
authors,"  he  says,  "  have  spoken  of  the  ancient  monuments 
after  the  accounts  of  foreign  travellers  and  by  hearsay, 
but  how  many  of  them  have  themselves  ever  visited  the 
distant  ruins  of  their  counti-y?"  Charnay's  casts  from 
various  monuments  have  been  set  np  in  the  Trocadero 
Gallery  at  Paris,  and  copies  in  the  Smithsonian  Institute 
at  Washington. 

An  enthusiast  of  a  rather  erratic  sort  is  M.  Le  Plongeon, 
who  has  unearthed  in  Yucatan  a  large  statue  known  as 
Chac-Mool,  and  claims  to  have  pierced  the  mystery  of  the 
ancient  inscrij)tions.  lie  holds  that  the  prehistoric  cities 
are  simpl}'  the  product  of  a  highly  flourishing  branch  of 
Free-mason r3%  The  French  Society  of  Americanists  has  a 
standing  offer  of  $25,000,  however,  for  the  discovery  of  a 
key  to  the  inscriptions,  which  has  not  yet  been  called  for. 
Fortunately,  the  antiquarian  squabbles  can  take  nothing 
from  the  value  of  the  old  Spanish  remains,  which  stand 
in  undisguised  profusion  and  beauty  on  every  side. 


522         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

IV. 

To  turn  back  again  to  material  things.  An  English 
minister  has  been  reappointed  to  Mexico,  and  a  creditable 
effort  has  been  made  to  renew  pajnnents  on  the  English 
debt.  A  proposed  recognition  of  this  debt  by  Gonzales, 
in  '84,  at  the  figure  of  $89,000,000,  resulted  in  violent  riot- 
ing. Diaz  admitted  it  in  June, '85,  at  $51,000,000,  witli 
other  allowances  that  bring  it  up  to  $65,000,000.  In 
Diaz's  Plan  of  Tuxtepec,  under  which  he  drove  from  the 
country  Lerdo — whom  I  saw  the  other  day,  a  broken  old 
man,  living  quietly  at  the  Lenox  Hotel  in  Kew  York — one 
of  the  principal  grievances  stated  was  that  he,  Lerdo,  had 
agreed  to  recognize  the  English  debt.  This  oft-repudiated 
obligation  dates  in  its  origin  from  1824,  and  is  and  always 
has  been  the  principal  financial  incubus  upon  the  country. 

The  harbor  of  Vera  Cruz  has  not  been  improved.  A 
French  company  began  a  breakwater  there  in  '85,  after 
the  plans  recommended  to  the  municipality  by  Captain 
Eads,  but  in  the  following  year  its  charter  was  cancelled 
— again  on  the  ground  of  pecuniary  irresponsibility.  A 
Mexican  line  of  steaniers  was  also  put  on  from  there  to 
European  ports  in  '84,  but  these  were  built  rather  for 
speed  than  freight  traffic,  which  should  have  been  their 
principal  resource.  The  experiment  proved  to  be  badly 
planned,  and  they  were  shortly  after  taken  under  the 
mortgage,  by  the  Barings  of  London,  and  withdrawn. 
The  daily  train  from  Vera  Cruz  to  Mexico,  by-the-way, 
now  starts  at  a  quarter  to  six  in  the  morning,  instead  of 
midnight  as  before.  This  arrangement  gives  the  passenger 
a  much  better  idea  of  his  striking  transition  from  the  Tierra 
Caliente  to  the  table-lands,  but  does  not  bring  him  till  long 
"■^ter  dark  to  the  approaches  of  the  Capital,  so  that  these 
lUst  be  left  for  his  return. 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  523 

The  steamers  mentioned  were  to  have  been  paid  a  lib- 
eral bonus  for  bringing  immigrants  into  the  country. 
Little  can  be  chronicled  on  that  head.  Immigration,  ia 
the  popular  acceptance,  has  not  yet  been  attracted.  A 
Mormon  colony  has  been  established  near  Galena,  in  Chi- 
huahua, preparing  a  refuge,  as  it  was  thought,  for  escape 
from  the  wrath  to  come.  My  hopeful  friend  Owen,  with 
whom  I  climbed  Popocatepetl,  has  essayed  a  socialistic  ex- 
periment at  Topolobampo  Bay,  from  which  doleful  ac- 
counts of  hardship  come  back,  and  lately  colonization 
has  been  begun  at  Todos  Santos,  in  Lower  California,  in 
which  remote  quarter  something  like  a  "boom"  is  being 
attempted.  Frequent  purchases  of  vast  tracts  by  Ameri- 
cans in  the  Northern  States  are  reported.  If  these  be  true, 
more  responsible  ownership  may  but  serve  to  fasten  upon 
the  Mexican  peasants  evils  from  which  they  long  have  suf- 
fered. Much  is  said  of  the  sequestration  of  the  church 
property  under  the  Laws  of  Reform,  and  it  was  in  essence 
a  bold  and  commendable  step,  but  it  neither  raised  up  a 
middle  class  nor  eased  the  financial  straits  of  the  govern- 
ment. By  shiftless  mismanagement  nearly  all  the  benefit 
inured  to  a  few  shrewd  adventurers.  There  are  still  no 
more  than  five  or  six  thousand  proprietors  for  the  whole 
country. 

Mexico  has  become  also,  as  it  by  no  means  used  to  be, 
a  country  of  guide-books.  The  two  principal  ones  of 
these  differ  so  between  themselves  and  from  all  others 
that,  in  default  of  a  chapter  in  each  on  the  comparative 
value  of  authorities,  they  have  but  little  satisfaction  for 
the  practical  inquirer.  Thus,  one  gives  the  population  of 
Vera  Cruz  at  20,000,  the  other  at  10,000 — my  own  infor- 
mation, procured  from  residents  on  tlie  spot,  put  it  at 
17,000,  and  the  last  Animrio  Ifata,  a  semi-official  publica- 
tion consulted  by  the  commercial  classes, gives  it  at  26,000. 


524:         OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER  LOST  PROVINCES. 

One  gives  the  height  of  Cuernavaca  above  the  sea — I  take 
instances  at  random — at  4900  feet,  and  its  population  at 
12,000;  the  other  5380  feet,  and  1G,320  people.  The  stand- 
ing army  ranges  from  22,367  in  "  Conkling"  to  68,000  in- 
fantry and  13,000  cavalry  in  "Janvier"  (stating  no  other 
basis  of  calculation),  and  to  45,000  in  Mr.  D.  A.  Wells,  who 
bases  an  important  argument  upon  it.  These  are  not  iso- 
lated examples;  the  same  astounding  discrepancies  on  sim- 
ple matters  of  fact,  the  truth  of  which,  it  might  be  thought, 
outside  of  Mexico,  could  be  arrived  at  with  the  greatest 
ease,  continue  throughout.  Perhaps  the  moral  is  that 
we  should  throw  ourselves  even  more  unreservedly  than 
ever  into  the  arms  of  the  picturesque,  accuracy  in  the 
descriptions  of  which  is  not  changed  by  the  lapse  of 
these  few  years  last  past,  any  more  than  it  was  by  the  hun- 
dred or  two  years  preceding  them.  The  enterprising  firm 
of  Prida,  Navarro  &  Co.  are  starting  a  commercial  agency 
which  may  be  of  use  to  our  merchants,  but  in  many  re- 
spects the  Baron  Humboldt  still  continues  the  leading  au- 
thority. 

Mr.  Conkling  tells  us,  what  will  puzzle  tlie  visitor,  that 
the  principal  pyramid  of  Teotihuacan  is  made  of  "blocks 
of  basalt  and  trachyte  rock."  Again  he  says,  naively,  that 
"all  the  churches  throughout  the  country  [having  already 
made  the  same  claim  for  the  Academy  of  Fine  Arts  at 
Mexico]  are  full  of  pictures,  most  of  which  are  the  work 
of  Murillo,  Velasquez,  Zurbaran,  and  Ribera."  This  is  an 
opinion  of  a  different  sort  from  the  Connecticut  scliool- 
district  view  of  Mr.  Warner,  that  it  is  all  "old  Spanish 
sacred  rubbish,"  and  it  must  be  news,  indeed,  to  the  con- 
noisseurs. The  principal  service  of  Janvier  is  to  furnish 
for  the  first  time  a  full  and  intelligent  account  of  a  num- 
ber of  the  fine  churches  by  which  the  attention  is  every- 
where  forcibly  arrested,  with   some   indications   on   the 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  525 

rapid  spread  of  the  monastic  orders  which  founded  them. 
He  gives  us  many  of  their  quaint  traditions  and  humors. 
His  touch  in  all  these  matters  is  sympathetic  and  literary; 
indeed,  it  often  seems  a  pity  that  such  work  should  have 
had  to  take  the  merely  guide-book  form. 

A  variety  of  small  books  on  the  country  have  been  is- 
sued in  the  mean  time,  Mexico  being  now  in  about  the 
condition  of  Europe  at  the  date  of  the  first  steamers,  when 
every  voyager  felt  called  upon  to  give  his  impressions  in 
print.  It  can  hardly  be  truthfully  said  that  any  of  these 
travellers  has  gone  further  or  fared  much  better  or  worse 
than  myself.  Brocklehurst's  "Mexico  To -Day,"  elabo- 
rately illustrated  with  colored  plates,  is  the  most  costly 
volume,  and  has  had  much  vogue  in  England.  I  saw  a 
great  deal  of  this  work  in  its  incipiency,  the  amiable  au- 
thor and  I  being  very  much  in  company  in  our  journeys. 

Mr.  Warner  complained,  the  other  day,  on  first  reaching 
Mexico,  that  the  volcanoes  did  not  dominate  the  city  as 
lie  had  expected.  Brocklehurst  and  I  drew  this  scene  to- 
gether, and  he  lifted  his  volcanoes  several  thousand  feet 
above  their  true  height,  to  be  the  more  iiiiposing.  It  was 
a  standing  rule  he  had  received  from  his  drawing-master, 
he  said,  with  a  laugh  of  gay  good-humor,  always  to  do 
that  with  mountains.  "  You  must  make  all  those  things 
as  they  ought  to  be,  not  as  they  are,"  he  concluded  ;  and 
if  Mr.  Warner  had  seen  the  imposing  sugar-loaf  peaks  in 
Brocklehurst's  plate,  this  conclusion  may  have  accounted 
for  his  disappointment. 

The  magazines  are  devoting  an  attention  to  the  subject, 
of  which  Mrs.  Foote's  articles  in  the  Century^  with  her 
faithful  drawings,  giving  a  very  attractive  picture  of 
Michoacan,  are  perhaps  the  best  example.  The  St.  Louis, 
Chicago,  and  Boston  papers  contain  much  intelligent  opin- 
ion on  the  country,  owing,  no  doubt,  to  the  large  increase 


52G  OLD  MEXICO  AND  HER   LOST  PROVINCES. 

of  trade  between  it  and  those  points,  and  the  Nation  em- 
ploys a  writer  wlio  extracts  order  from  the  chaos  of  Mex- 
ican affairs,  but  as  much  can  hardly  yet  be  said  of  most 
of  the  other  papers  of  New  York. 


V. 

A  decided  literary  event  has  been  the  appearance  of 
the  several  volumes  of  H.  H.  Bancroft's  great  History  of 
the  Pacific  States,  devoted  to  Mexico.  They  cover  respec- 
tively the  periods  of  the  Aboriginal  Annals,  the  Con- 
quest, the  Viceroys,  the  War  of  Independence,  and  Mod- 
ern Times,  including  the  North  American  Invasion.  The 
style  is  bad  and  the  philosophy  not  profound,  but  as  a  nar- 
rative and  mass  of  material — of  which,  perhaps,  hereafter, 
an  even  better  use  may  be  made  —  it  fills  a  place  that 
nothing  else  has  even  attempted.  Its  bibliography  con- 
tains an  amazing  list  of  books,  and  a  single  brief  chapter 
is  often  followed  by  several  finely  printed  pages  .of  refer- 
ences to  authorities.  In  the  portion  relating  to  the  Mex- 
ican War  it  abuses  our  own  country,  as  it  is  the  fashion 
for  most  later  writers  to  do,  and  warmly  stands  bj'  the  de- 
feated nation.  Now  this  is  a  fault  of  the  chivalric  sort, 
but  it  is  time  to  say  a  word  on  the  other  side.  By  Ban- 
croft's own  showing,  the -war  part}',  "which  comprised 
practically  the  whole  country,"  overthrew  the  Mexican 
president  Heri-ara  because  he  inclined  to  favor  peaceable 
overtures  from  the  United  States.  Mexico  did  not  look 
upon  herself  as  a  weak  object  of  commiseration  or  sym- 
pathy. She  was  accustomed  to  speak  of  herself  at  that 
time  in  official  bulletins  as  la  primer  nacion  de  America. 
The  army  had  a  very  shrewd  idea  of  winning  the  victory; 
they  "thought  themselves  invincible;  that  opinion  being 
not  merely  the  result  of  prejudice,  but  of  the  supposition 


MEXICO  REVISITED.  527 

tliat  they  had  mneh  military  experience  and  toughness, 
acquired  in  their  many  years  of  revolutionary  strife." 

Speaking  of  hooks,  I  know  of  none  manifesting  a  more 
enlightened  and  friendly  spirit  towards  the  Mexicans, 
though  severe  in  certain  ways,  than  David  A.  Wells's  brief 
"  Study  of  Mexico."  It  is  a  pleasure,  after  the  usual  vague- 
ness on  the  financial  question,  to  find  one  so  competent  to 
handle  it  thoroughly.  lie  proposes  the  one  practical  solu- 
tion for  drawing  Mexico  out  of  its  almost  insuperable  dif- 
ficulties, namely,  that  the  United  States  should  guaran- 
tee for  a  time  a  low  interest  upon  its  national  debt.  The 
plan,  however  strange,  is  based  upon  grounds  of  self-in- 
terest as  well  as  dutj'. 

The  truth  is,  the  evils  of  Mexico  move  in  a  vicious  cir- 
cle, all  n)utually  accelerating  one  another.  A  disturbed 
state  of  society  both  checked  production  and  made  nec- 
essary a  large  army  to  maintain  order.  An  increased  army 
means  heavier  taxes,  while  the  ability  to  earn  them  has 
diminished.  The  difficulty  of  raising  money  induces  the 
government  to  put  on  the  screws,  and  use  undue  parsi- 
mony towards  the  public  servants.  This  leads  to  smug- 
gling and  official  corruption  that  deplete  by  the  whole- 
sale the  already  scanty  revenue,  throttles  what  little  pro- 
ductive industry  3'et  remained,  and  kindles  again  the  blaze 
of  revolution.  Partly  through  these  causes,  and  partly 
as  a  tradition  from  the  old  Spanish  dotnination,  Mexico 
is  cursed  with  the  worst  system  of  extortionate  imposts 
known  to  modern  times.  Tribute  is  levied  not  only  on 
all  the  coasts  and  frontiers,  but  at  the  borders  of  every 
State,  and  again  at  the  gates  of  every  town  and  village. 
No  real  pros])erity  can  be  looked  for  till  this  is  got  rid 
of,  and  an  enlightened  sj'stem  of  taxation  put  in  its  place. 
But  in  the  mean  time  the  country  needs  the  nione)',  and 
how  is  this  to  be  done?     Where  is  the  requisite  point  of 


528  OLD   MEXICO  AND   HER   LOST  PIIOVINCES. 

support  to  be  found  while  the  cha  ge  is  being  male? 
There  is  certainly  no  help  unless  i  .oiiie  from  withe  ut. 
Now  that  peace  is  assured,  why  should  we  not  do  a  service 
so  slight  for  our  own  part  and  so  great  for  its  recipient. 

1  say  that  peace  is  assured.  We  have  now  well  enterf  ' 
upon  the  eleventh  year  s:  ce  any  government  has  been 
overthrown  hy  revolution — a  thing  not  only  unprecedent- 
ed, but  never  even  remotely  approached  since  1810.  It  is 
true  that  another  election  is  approaching,  and  mutterings 
are  ?'".iin  heard  against  the  sway  of  Porfirio  Diaz,  who 
kee'^s  his  grasp  upon  the  ruling  power  in  a  dictatorial  way, 
but  these  are  not  very  likely  to  be  effective.  There  is  no 
great  evidence  as  yet  of  the  growth  of  the  habit  of  gov- 
ernment by  the  popular  will.  The  brief  parliamentary 
opposition,  towards  the  end  of  Gonzales's  term,  was  ut- 
terly wiped  out  in  the  elections  of  1886,  so  that  there  is 
now  as  usual  but  one  party,  namely,  that  of  Don  Porfirio. 
The  constitution  has  just  been  amended  in  his  interest 
to  allow  of  re-election.  Anywhere  else  this  would  seem 
slightly  illogical,  as  lie  secured  his  place  'ginally  by 
"wading  through  seas  of  blood  on  the  campaign  of  "No 
Re-election !"  a  plank  of  the  Plan  of  Tuxtepec  even  more 
important  than  that  about  the  English  debt.  But  the 
Americans  have  got  into  the  habit  of  taking  Mexico  a 
good  deal  in  her  own  way,  and  not  expecting  her  to 
square  to  preconceived  notions.  As  long  as  the  peace  is 
preserved,  the  present  friendly  leaning  will  not  be  abated, 
and  the  advent  of  more  truly  representative  government 
will  be  awaited  with  the  establishment  of  a  better  eco- 
nomic system. 

THE    END. 


This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below 


_     JAN     3  1935 


"^^ii 


ic^i'  ?  5  19"^^ 


ft^K 


APR  1  7  1939 
•WAT  17  ^S3§ 


NOV  1  6  1943 

Vll\y  ? 4  1945 

Form  L-9-15m-7,'32 


Alls  7^  194i^ 
^^^  5     ,1947 
-JUL  1     1955 


i^-j/- 


ORL    DEC  1019B9 


liS 


IMTER1»IBRARY 

NOV   24^1969 


LOAllS 


OCT 25  ] 


JViU 


4WK  SEP  1  3  1<»3 


?^EC'D  URl  CIRC 

SEP  20  1993 


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